The Power of Love
by Mystricka
Summary: Harry Potter was a boy that grew up knowing neglect & some abuse. Follow his story & see if he can live up to his destiny, or if some truths will be enough to destroy him. More on the inside! AU, no HBP, no DH, mostly canon for other books w/ slight diff
1. Honeymoon Shopping

The Power of Love

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_This is just an idea I've had floating around in my mind for a while. It will probably end up being quite long, I just hope you're patient with me and like it._

_Now, this is more than likely going to fit with the Alternate Universe setting, but it will still hold some canon. This does not take in account HBP or DH. There is also a different version of OotP mentioned._

_Summary: Harry Potter was a boy that grew up knowing neglect and some abuse. When he finds out he is a wizard, he hopes he can finally find a place where he belongs. But what he doesn't realize is that not only is he famous, he's probably going to find a lot more than he ever bargained for. Will he live up to his destiny or will some truths be enough to cause him to fail?_

_Author's Note: I own nothing so please don't sue! =)_

_Another Author's Note: It will be a while before we get to Harry because I'm going to give quite a bit of backstory. Hopefully you'll be patient with me. There's a possibility there won't be a whole lot of surprises as you read through it, but I'll try to leave a few here and there._

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Chapter 1

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Lily Evans was out shopping for a few things to take with her on her honeymoon. She had two of her best friends with her as they browsed some of the shops in Diagon Alley.

Mary Tibbens (formerly MacDonald) and Remus Lupin were trying to help her decide on a few things to buy when the clock in the store chimed 2 p.m. Mary gasped and said she had to leave because she had left her twins with her husband and he had to go to work shortly. Remus then looked at Lily and said that he _really_ didn't want to be caught in the lingerie department so they decided to go and grab a bite to eat.

"I still can't entirely believe how he did it. Of course, he told us what he was going to do and trust me, I told him you'd kill him if he did. Sadly, I think that persuaded him even more to propose like that." Remus admitted while starting to cut up his food.

"I'm sure it did, but it's alright. Granted, I'd have preferred the romantic way, but it did get the point across when he _sonorus_'d his voice after the pick up Quidditch game." Lily replied while laughing. Remus, however, noticed that her laugh didn't quite reach her emerald eyes.

"The bludger to the head after you shouted back yes was quite amusing. I'll never let him live that down ... and neither will Sirius for that matter." Remus chuckled lightly.

As Lily ate, she let her mind wander slightly. She was less than a week away from her wedding, yet she couldn't help but feel slightly sad. She loved James Potter very much, but as much as she wanted to deny it, truly her heart belonged to another. Even if he couldn't return it back.

"Lily ..."

Lily started and looked up. "What?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes or so. What's wrong?" Remus asked, leaning toward her a bit.

She started absent mindedly tearing at the napkin on her lap.

"Lily, we've been friends for ages. You know that I can keep a secret from James if it needs to be kept from him. I'm far better at it than they think I am."

Lily snorted softly before smiling at her friend. "I'm just afraid at how or what you might think of me ..."

Truthfully, Remus had a sneaking suspicion what this could possibly be about. But he also knew not to press her ... that if she wanted to talk, she would.

"Look Lily, I'm here if you need me. You don't have to say anything that you don't want to."

Lily looked up and gave him a genuine smile. "It's just ... er ... I miss ... well ... the closer I get to the wedding, the more and more I miss Sev." Lily looked down and blushed furtively. "Does that make me a bad person?"

Remus gave a half smile. It turned out his sneaky suspicion was correct.

"Lily, thinking about Severus does not make you a bad person. You and he were close for many, many years."

Lily made every conjecture that she was about to interrupt but he held up his hand to prevent her from doing so.

"It's alright to let your mind wander in the 'what if' scenario. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had intervened that day before it got as far as it did. This could even be yours and his wedding." Remus let himself shiver slightly before letting out a chuckle as he thought of the strong objections that James and Sirius both would present at the wedding ceremony. "But what you must remember is that you made your choices and he made his, even if you don't like them."

She sighed. "You're right ... as usual. I just wish I could talk to him before the wedding. Afterwards, it's bound to be impossible because I'm sure that if James or Sirius even glimpsed him, he'd be hexed into the next century. I wish I could just spend a few hours alone with him, just to ask him why ... as well as a few other things."

Remus raised his eyebrow slightly. "I do believe I'll draw the line at you describing what 'a few other things' might mean. I can keep secrets from the others well enough, but even I would be hard pressed to hide the fact that you had a snog-fest with Severus the week before marrying one of my best friends." He winked at her while he finished off his food.

She scoffed at him before sticking out her tongue, which she knew would make him roll his eyes.

He did not disappoint.

"Thanks Remus. I know actually seeing him before the wedding is slim, but you do make a good ear to talk to." After a moments pause she added, "You do know that I love James though, right?"

"I imagine you would have told the 'arrogant little toe rag' no if you didn't love him."

That made Lily burst out laughing which caused a few glances to be cast their direction. With the war in full swing, laugher in public was a rare thing.

"And I also know that you love Severus, no matter how mad he probably makes you, because I know it's a different kind of love."

"Remus Lupin, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were really a female in guy's clothing for all that insight you seem to possess."

He snorted which caused him to choke on his drink.

"Come on. Let's go see if I can find some clothes that you can point out to James, otherwise it's hard to tell what he'll wear during the honeymoon."

As they paid and turned to leave, Lily had a prickly sensation on the back of her neck ... one that made her feel as if someone was watching her. Turning and scanning the crowds, she didn't see anyone paying her any special attention.

But what she didn't realize was that she was right. Standing less than 20 feet away, under a disillusionment charm, was a very shell shocked Severus Snape.

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A/N: 7/28/11 - Edited wording and such ...


	2. Ingredient Shopping

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

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Chapter 2

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After the Death Eater meeting, Severus Snape apparated to Spinner's end, where he currently lived. The Dark Lord was pleased with the potions that he had prepared for him, even though Severus was not. Granted, the potions did exactly what they were supposed to do, but this is what made Severus all the more frustrated. He was tired of the Dark Lord and his plans. He regretted almost immediately joining in with him, but alas he did join them ... not that he was given much choice in the matter ... thanks to Lucius Malfoy.

The only thing that Severus found slightly useful was that he managed to ... foil a few of Lord Voldemort's plans without him realizing it. At least he was helping in some way, because one just does not desert Him without being killed.

Sighing, he went to check on his potions that he had to let brew for a while. After ensuring that they were on schedule, he let his thoughts wander to Lily, as they so often did. Every once in a while, he would seek her out just to make sure that she was safe. He knew that she'd had a few of her own run-ins with some Death Eaters and amusingly enough, the Death Eaters always came out far worse than they went in.

Severus loved watching Lily as she walked with her friends, laughing and carrying on. Every once in a while he would see her with James Potter and it took every ounce of his willpower not to jinx the pants off of him. He knew that she would never forgive him if he did that.

The day that he heard that she was going to be married, he felt as if he'd been punched in the stomach. But he vowed that as long as she was happy, then that was all that mattered. Besides, he scoffed, what kind of life would the wife of a Death Eater have?

Getting up and looking over a few things, he scowled when he realized that he needed to go into Diagon Alley the next day to pick up a few potion ingredients. After checking everything one last time, he turned and went to bed.

The next morning, he found himself rushing off to the Apothecary to buy what he needed. On the way back to one of the many dis-apparition points located throughout the area, he felt his breath catch in his chest. There, in front of him, was Lily Evans sitting with the werewolf, Remus Lupin.

Severus quickly ducked into a near-by alley and performed a dis-illusionment charm on himself. Making his way back to where he saw Lily and the werewolf, he came up behind them just in time to hear her say, "The closer this wedding gets, the more and more I miss Sev."

With those words, he fell against the wall. She still cared for him, even though he became what he did, she still cared.

He recovered himself and listened to their conversation. Severus was shocked to hear the werewolf not trashing him, especially since he was no help during their school years together.

He watched as they made to leave. It was then he made his resolve. He would talk to Lily like she wished for, some way, some how during the week! And if he played his cards right, maybe, just maybe, she would see that he never stopped loving her. Maybe he could stop her from marrying Potter.

Severus sneered as he was almost hit by a passerby, but of course being invisible, the passerby didn't know that.

Making his way to the apparition point, he glanced around before vanishing back toward his house.

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A/N: 7/28/11 - Edited wording and such ...


	3. The Invitation

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

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Chapter 3

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The next day found Severus working on a new potion. He loved experimenting. It calmed his nerves greatly. He had been up for most of the night trying to think of a way of approaching Lily without anyone seeing him but her. Not being able to think of a way to make that happen, he turned to what calmed him down and allowed him to think the best. Potion Making.

It turned out that he became so engrossed in his work, he didn't realize that there was an owl present until it bit him. He scowled at it as he took the letter off its leg. His expression, however, quickly changed as soon as he recognized Lily's handwriting.

_Sev,_

_I know I'm probably the last person you wanted to hear from. In fact, this is probably a down right shock to you._

_I don't know if you are aware, but James Potter and I are getting married. In fact, the wedding is this Saturday. I'm not telling you this to hurt you. I would never wish you any harm, at least any more than I'm sure I have already caused you._

_Sev, before I get married, I would like to see you, if it is at all possible. I realize I could be inviting you to bring a swarm of Death Eaters with you, but I don't believe that you will. I still trust you with all of my heart._

_I'm sorry that I'm rambling. I'm sure you can remember how I get sometimes when I get nervous. Anyway, this Thursday, I have it arranged with everyone that I am to be left alone from 4pm until they see me the next day. The reason I gave them is for me to finish preparing things as well as to meditate before the wedding._

_The real reason is because I want to see you. I want to spend some time with you, while I still can._

_Please consider it. No need to respond. Either you will come or you won't. As you consider, please remember that I do still love you._

_Love,_

_Lily_

Severus immediately fell to the floor. His normally mask like face had tears running down it. He quickly re-read the letter a few more times.

So it was indeed true. She did still love him, and he still loved her. There was no doubt about that.

He decided to not send a letter in case Potter intercepted it, but there was no chance that he was going to miss this meeting with Lily.

After he picked himself up off of the floor, he resumed checking on his potions in an effort to slow his now pounding heart.

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A/N: 7/28/11 - Edited wording and such ...


	4. Lily's Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

Disclaimer: This chapter has a slight 'M' rating to it. There's nothing too graphic, just giving the warning, just in case.

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Chapter 4

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Lily was a nervous wreck. Thursday was finally here and it was 3:30 in the afternoon. Her friends had finally left her alone. As soon as they did, she started putting up several silencing charms, took the anti-apparition spell off of her room, and then began to pace.

At exactly 4pm, a near silent _pop_ made her turn around with her wand at the ready. She nearly let out an audible gasp.

There stood Severus Snape, holding 12 long stemmed red roses mixed with lilies in his hands. And he was smiling at her.

"Where was our spot located?" She asked him quickly with her wand pointed at him.

He calmly replied, "Near the black lake, there is a series of bushes on the western side of it. We had an area together where we could watch the sunset without being disturbed by others."

As soon as he finished speaking, she re-cast the anti-apparition wards around the room so no one could interrupt them, put up a few more silencing spells, then ran into his arms.

Severus, to say the least, was a little surprised, but very pleasantly pleased. He hugged her with such enthusiasm that he picked her up off the ground.

"Lily ..." He breathed in the scent of her hair.

She looked up into his eyes and smiled. She then took the flowers out of his hands and placed them in a vase that she had conjured out of thin air.

"Sev, please sit down." She dragged him over to her bed and they sat down facing each other.

He knew that he was going to get the third degree and he was going to be truthful with her, so he wanted to head her off before she began speaking.

"Lily, before you say or do anything else, I want to tell you that you are free to ask me any question, to yell at me for as long as you like, and to smack me upside my head if you want. I will respond to you truthfully." He looked into her emerald eyes as he said this to let her know that he was telling the truth and very much serious.

It actually partially amused him that he could lie to the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time yet she could read him in an instant.

Lily nodded.

She then took his left arm and rolled up the sleeve. He let her see the Dark Mark. He saw the tears welling up in her eyes, but she did not let them fall. He knew she wouldn't. After examining it for a moment she looked him straight in the eyes and asked a single worded question.

"Why?"

He took a deep breath because he had been prepared for _this_ question. "As much as it pains me to say, the reason isn't a very good one. After you left me, not that I blame you of course, but after you left me, I had no one to turn to. When I graduated, I was approached by Lucius Malfoy and was more or less taken against my own will. After the apparition ended, I saw that I was standing at the feet of the Dark Lord himself. It seems that he had been watching me for a long time and knew of my skills with potions. So he made me an offer.

"He told me that he wanted me to work for him, making the potions that he required and for my unwavering service I would be granted power, access to an amazing lab, and money beyond my wildest dreams. As awful as it sounds, I took up his offer mostly for the lab alone. And I regretted it immediately and have every day since."

Severus began to shake slightly so Lily grabbed his hands to act as an anchor as he continued to speak.

"I regretted it because he didn't just require potions of me. He also required me to go on raids with the other members. After the very first one, I went home and retched for nearly 12 hours."

"How come you haven't left him?" Lily asked quietly.

"One doesn't simply _leave_ the Dark Lord's service. If it was found that I had abandoned him, I would be hunted down and killed. So, I decided to take another route." Severus smirked a little bit.

Lily raised her eyebrow at him which made him nearly laugh out loud. He missed that so much.

"So far, I've managed to foil the Dark Lord's plans three times without being caught. It would have been a lot more, but I have to be extremely careful, otherwise I'll be killed anyway."

"Really Sev? You're working from the inside for the good guys?"

"Not that the 'good guys' know that, but yes, I am. I wouldn't lie to you, Lily. I don't think I've _ever_ been able to lie to you." Severus felt his cheeks darken a bit.

"I'm not sure I want to know, but how many people have you killed?"

"I can honestly tell you none."

"What? I thought in order to get the Dark Mark, you had to kill someone to prove your loyalty."

"Normally, yes. But he wanted me for my potion skills early on, so after I made him a potion, that sadly enough mimicked the Cruciatus Curse, I received my mark ..." He let his voice trail off.

Suddenly Lily hugged him. "Thank you for telling me the truth. It really does mean the world to me. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you beyond belief. What are the odds of me talking you out of marrying Potter and running away with me?"

Lily chuckled. "Not only would you have You-Know-Who after you, but also James and Sirius. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. No, I won't leave James at the altar on Saturday. I do love him, but ... I don't know how to explain this."

"You love me differently?"

"I do, but the love I have for you is stronger than what I feel for James. The love I have for you feels more powerful. Oh, that doesn't make sense at all..."

"On the contrary, it makes perfect sense. Because that's how I feel about you." Severus' face was definitely red now, but that didn't stop him from slowly leaning in and placing his lips gently on hers.

Just as he felt her respond to his kiss, she suddenly leapt to her feet. "Are you hungry?" Not waiting for an answer, she picked up her wand and waved it causing food to appear in front of them.

At first he was startled by the sudden change in pace, but he accepted it. With her, a person always had to keep on their toes. They ate together and talked and laughed about old times. It really felt like nothing had changed. It was a wonderful feeling for both of them.

Around 8pm, Lily got up to put some music on and pulled Severus to his feet to dance.

"Lily, you know perfectly well that I don't dance."

She looked up at him with those emerald eyes of hers and just smiled. That was all it took. And he knew that she knew that was all it was going to take.

So they danced.

The next thing Severus knew is that they were kissing fiercely and passionately on the bed. He wasn't entirely sure how they got there but he did realize Lily's intentions and he didn't want to force her to do anything, no matter how much he himself wanted to.

"Lily ..." He breathed into her ear. "Not that I'm not enjoying this, I just don't want you to have any regrets about anything that might happen. I _will_ stop anytime you want."

She pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes, as if she was studying them intently. "I already have regrets when it concerns you. I regret that what I want to do tonight hasn't happened between us already. I regret that I never accepted your apology _that_ night. I regret not seeking you out the next day like I wanted to. I regret saying yes to James, knowing that my heart really belongs to you and knowing that I can't have you at the same time. I regret that this marriage isn't between us.

"However, I do not and will not regret what I want to happen tonight, as long as you won't regret it either. I don't regret saving myself, because yes, I am a virgin, and I do not regret wanting you to have me whole. And I have _never_ regretted loving you with all of my heart."

Severus just looked at her. His eyes full of happiness at what was just said and sadness all at the same time. He dragged the back of his fingers down her cheek as he gazed into her eyes. "Lily, I could _never_ and will never regret anything that has happened today and will happen tonight. I don't regret returning your love and, since it's you, I don't regret telling you that this will be my first time as well." He did, however, feel the heat creep up his neck slightly.

She raised her eyebrow at him before smiling and kissing him. It only escalated and when they did finally become one, they both felt the earth move. All that night and into the early morning, they made love and both fell asleep in each other's arms.

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A/N: 7/28/11 - Edited words and such ...


	5. No Regrets

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!  
Disclaimer: This chapter is rated "M"ish. There is nothing too graphic, just giving the warning in case.

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Chapter 5

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Lily's clock went off around 6am. She looked over and allowed herself to grin. She was wrapped in the arms of Severus Snape. And she felt safer and more complete than she had ever felt before. She pressed her body deeper into his and leaned over to kiss his lips to wake him.

He returned the kiss then opened his eyes. He then whispered, "I was afraid it was all a dream."

"No, Sev. It wasn't a dream." She smiled at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck in an effort to pull herself closer.

"You're about to tell me I need to leave, aren't you?"

"I'm afraid so. Most of me wants you to stay here so that I can continue to be held by you, but the other part of me is telling me to get you out of here before someone comes calling and kills you."

Severus actually laughed at that. "I have no doubt in my mind that they would indeed kill me if they found out what happened." He stared into her eyes and allowed himself to get lost for a moment. "You don't have any regrets, do you?"

"Not the first one. Do you?"

He raised his eyebrow and put on the scowl that he reserved just for her. "No. You should know better than to even ask that."

The next thing he knew is that they were making love again. It was as amazing as the first time and he found himself trying to hold back his release as long as he could, simply because he didn't want it to end. But eventually, they both cried out in relief ... and love. Afterwards, he spelled his clothes back on, sat down in a chair, and pulled Lily into his lap (who was only wearing a long t-shirt).

"Is there any chance I can convince you not to disappear from me? To keep in touch with me?"

"I'm sorry, my love. I would love to, but I don't want to put you into any danger by associating with you. And before you open that mouth of your's, let me explain."

Severus scowled again.

"I know how Voldemort hates muggles and muggle borns. It's your life I fear for, not mine. I will not put your life into jeopardy by you associating with me. I do believe it will be quite the give away if I send you an owl and it lands to bring you your mail in the middle of a meeting. I won't take the chance. As much as it pains me to say this, this will probably be the last time we will see each other."

She then noticed that he had a mischievous grin on his face.

"Severus Tobias Snape, what are you thinking about?"

"Well, just because we can't communicate doesn't mean we can't _see_ each other."

She raised her eyebrow at him before a look of comprehension spread across her face.

"I will check up on you occasionally, with your permission. I won't interrupt you or approach you because I _really_ don't want to be confronted by Potter. That will only lead to a very bad scene. As long as you're happy and since you won't run off with me ... much to my displeasure (he grunted)... as long as he makes you happy, then I'll be happy for you. I've only truly wanted you to be happy, Lily. And besides, I know that Potter will be able to defend you if the need arises. He's been after you for as long as I can remember." Severus scowled yet again.

"I think I would like that, Sev. Just don't go all stalkerish on me too much. It might make me feel paranoid." She smiled at him.

They both, reluctantly, stood up. He then leaned down for what he knew would be his last kiss to the woman he loved. He kissed her even more passionately than he did the night before. He then smiled at her, something he only seemed to do in her presence.

"I love you, Lily. I always have and I always will. Be happy and take care of yourself."

"I love you too, Sev. Please remember that as well and _please_ stay safe."

Lily then picked up her wand, removed the anti-apparition ward, and smiled at him as she watched him turn on the spot and vanish. She quickly reapplied the ward and then proceeded to pull herself together.

After about an hour, she headed off to the shower with a smile on her face and not an ounce of regret in her body.

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A/N: 7/28/11 - Edited words and such ...


	6. The Assignment

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

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Chapter 6

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The wedding was great and so was the honeymoon. Afterwards, Lily and James settled into Godric's Hollow and began their new life together.

Lily loved being married. There was constant company around, especially their school friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Lily often told James that it would be easier if they just moved in with them. As it currently stood, someone was always over for dinner.

Severus would occasionally pop in just to get a glimpse of Lily here and there as she went about her business in the yard or at one of the stores in town. Everyone once in a while he would allow her to see him, in which time they would exchange small smiles and nods and then he would vanish again.

After only a few months, he noticed that she was pregnant. Lily simply glowed. He secretly wished that it was his child she was carrying, not Potters, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn't have a clue how to handle a baby. But that didn't stop him from dreaming about it, nonetheless.

Severus continued his supposed service to the Dark Lord. Whenever he could, he would save those that was possible without being revealed himself. However, there were times that he felt he was fighting a losing battle.

In June of the next year, Severus felt his Dark Mark burn. It burnt in the way that meant he was being summoned directly, as opposed to a meeting with all of the Death Eaters. He composed himself before apparating directly in front of Lord Voldemort.

"My Lord." Severus said as he knelt in front of Voldemort, kissing the hem of his robes.

"Stand Severus. I have an assignment for you." Whenever the Dark Lord spoke, it almost always sounded like a hiss.

Glancing around the room, he realized that he was not alone. Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy were both lurking in the shadows.

"What is it you require of me? You know I only live to please you."

"I wish for you to take up a teaching post at Hogwarts. While you are there, you are to spy upon Albus Dumbledore and tell me of his comings and goings. I have no doubt that he is behind this group that call themselves _The Order of the Phoenix_, and they are getting far to meddlesome for my liking." Voldemort seethed with anger.

"Of course, my Lord. I shall do my best. Is there anything in particular you wish for me to apply?"

Voldemort looked into Severus's eyes and was satisfied with what he saw. "As long as you acquire a post, I do not care what it is you teach. Now go and report back to me at the end of the week and tell me if you have succeeded."

"Yes my Lord." With a bow, Severus dis-apparated.

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A/N: 7/28/11 - Edited words and such ...


	7. Trelawney's Prediction

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

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Chapter 7

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The next day, he made an appointment with Albus Dumbledore.

He applied for both the Defense Against the Dark Arts job and the Potion Master's job. He figured this way he might stand a chance of at least getting one of them.

After the interview, the Headmaster stared at him for a few moments before informing him he would let him know within a couple of months, which basically meant before the start of the new term in September.

As he left the castle, he scowled. He knew that he would be punished for not having news right away to present to his master.

He started to tell Dumbledore that he was a Death Eater trying to take down Voldemort from the inside, but he wasn't sure if he would be believed. For all he knew, admitting to that would lead to him being taken directly to Azkaban, the wizard prison. He shuddered involuntarily at the thought.

Two days later, he found himself in the Hog's Head with Lucius Malfoy and another Death Eater named Goyle. They were drinking, but Snape wasn't really in the mood for merry-making, so he nursed his Fire Whiskey just to keep the others from staring at him strangely.

Malfoy was asking Snape if he had heard anything from Dumbledore yet when a woman walked in that made both Death Eaters laugh out loud. Severus turned around to see what they found amusing and saw a woman with the biggest pair of glasses on that he had ever seen in his entire life. She also had numerous shawls around her shoulders and was wearing green robes. The entire effect made her look like a large insect.

This person was Sybill Trelawney. She talked to the barman and then came and sat at a table near where the Death Eaters were currently sitting. As she drank her drink, she overheard Malfoy resume his complaining about how long it was taking to hear from the Headmaster.

At this point, Trelawney poked her head around the corner and asked what post he had applied for because that was why she was there.

Before Snape could answer, Goyle told her to _bug_ off.

Trelawney huffed and then proceeded to go up to her room.

About 20 minutes later, all three men did a sharp intake of breath. Albus Dumbledore had just entered the pub. They watched as he talked a little to the barman before he proceeded up the stairs.

Lucius looked at Severus. "Follow them. See what you can find out. If you get caught, you can always say you just wanted to know if the Headmaster had reached his decision yet."

Severus did not like this idea one bit, but nodded and proceeded up the stairs.

However, Lucius followed him. (No doubt to make sure he did what he was told.) He had hid himself in the dark shadows of the corner and watched as Severus put his ear to the door. This did not make Severus happy because now he actually had to listen in. Occasionally a word or two could be heard in the hallway even without the need of his obvious method of eavesdropping.

Dumbledore and Trelawney conversed for about 40 minutes when he heard the Headmaster get ready to leave. However as Severus pulled away, he heard Trelawney's voice ring loud and clear through the door.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ..._"

More would have been heard, but at that moment, the bartender grabbed Severus around the collar and threw him down the stairs. There was such a commotion that the rest of the prophecy was drowned out.

Severus was actually glad for that. However, since Malfoy heard what he had heard, he would have no choice but to report this. He waited outside for Malfoy and Goyle to join him. As he waited, he readied his mind. He didn't want to have to do this, but if he didn't, he would be killed.

Upon seeing the two leave The Hog's Head behind him, they all dis-apparated toward the Dark Lord's hide out.

Upon appearing in front of him, they all bowed and kissed the hem of His robes, keeping their eyes cast downwards until they were addressed.

"Stand. Now, to what do I owe this visit?"

Lucius started to speak what he had heard but Voldemort cut him off. "Severus, you speak."

Malfoy sent a look of pure loathing at Severus. He hated that Snape was more trusted than he was.

"My Lord, we were in the Hog's Head when Dumbledore came in to interview someone for a post at Hogwarts. I listened in on their conversation and I overheard a prophecy concerning you that I think you should know." Severus allowed his mind to be probed by the Dark Lord so that he could sense no treachery.

Malfoy was never able to withstand the probing which was probably why Severus was more trusted.

"A prophecy. Concerning me? Very well. What does it say?"

Snape repeated what he had heard and to say the Dark Lord was livid would be an understatement. "I'm sorry, my Lord, I didn't get to hear the rest of the prophecy because I was discovered shortly after she started to speak. I was thrown out of the bar, but Lucius was behind in the shadows. It's possible he heard what I did not."

Lucius paled. "I'm sorry, my Lord, but there was such a racket going on in the process of Snape getting thrown out of the building, I heard no more than he did."

"Very well. I'll have our contact at the ministry keep an eye on births that happen at the end of July and then I shall end this threat before it even becomes one. You have done well, Severus. I'm very pleased. How goes the assignment I gave you?"

"I interviewed my Lord, but I'm afraid I won't know for a couple of months. I will continue to ask the Headmaster about his decision. I will not fail you."

Voldemort looked Severus over. "No, I don't believe you will. You three are dismissed."

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A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	8. Lily's Dilemma

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 8

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Meanwhile ...

Lily was in one of her panic modes. She knew that she had to tell her husband, but she wasn't sure how he was going to react. She could feel her stomach retch against her will, but she knew that it wasn't the morning sickness this time. No, this time she knew that it was from her nerves. Finally, she steadied herself and called out to her husband.

"James, can you come and join me for a moment?" Lily nervously bit her lip.

When James Potter entered the room he eyed his wife suspiciously before joining her at the kitchen table. "What's wrong, Lily?"

"Nothing's wrong. At least, I don't think it is." She allowed herself to smile to try to comfort him. She could see the worry in his eyes as he looked at her. "James, I'm pregnant."

There was silence in the house for about five seconds. The next thing she heard was, "What? Really? How? Wow! Are you sure? How far along are you? Is it a boy or a girl?" James rattled off a few more questions before noticing the amused (and partially relieved) smirk on his wife's face.

After he managed to quiet down a little bit she finally let out the laughter she'd been holding in. "I hoped you would be happy. I know you wanted to wait a while before having children. I was afraid of how you would react."

In actuality, wanting to wait was an understatement. They had discussed children before and James had wanted to wait a couple of years before they started having them. So they used both magical and muggle protection each time they became intimate.

"Lily, this is the second happiest day of my life. The first being our wedding day, of course." He winked at her, which made her blush.

She stared at him for a few moments just to watch him fidget. "Oh, I _suppose_ I'll answer your questions."

James beamed at her. He had, no doubt, been hoping that she would.

"Yes, I really am pregnant. You _should_ know how, but if you don't, I'm not telling you. I'll get Sirius to explain the birds and the bee's to you. I'm around ... two months pregnant. And you're going to have a son." (The mid-wife had performed a sex-identification spell that morning before James had gotten home from work.)

She watched her husband's face turn into the biggest grin she had ever seen. He then rushed over to her, picked her up, and kissed her.

"I can't wait to tell everyone!"

"I was hoping that if you took the news well, you would feel that way. So, I took the liberty of inviting over a few friends for you." She smirked at him as his eyes widened. Truthfully, she had invited them over so she wouldn't back out of telling him about the baby. She had tried twice before today and couldn't ever seem to say the actual words.

"You are the most wonderful woman ever! Has anyone ever told you that?"

She grinned. "I think I've heard it someplace before."

After they kissed again, she told him to go amuse himself for a couple of hours while she fixed dinner.

Lily waved her wand around the kitchen and set a few things to work. Occasionally, she would fix dinner the muggle way, but she had a some things on her mind at the moment, and she didn't want to burn the food.

She was thrilled with her husbands' reactions. The only problem that kept creeping up into her mind was that this child was probably not James'. She had never really given it any thought that her and Severus had never used any protection until she learned that she was pregnant. Even after that, she still had to admit to herself that she still had no regrets from their meeting.

Flicking her wand at the dishes in the sink, they began to clean themselves.

In reality, she was thrilled at the possibility of carrying Severus's child. During school, they had talked about children several times, but Severus was always paranoid at the prospect of what kind of father he would be. He did not have a pleasant childhood of his own. Lily always insisted that he would have been a great father because of that. She chuckled slightly at the memory of his face when she used to say that to him.

As she stirred the soup and checked the roast in the oven, she allowed herself to audibly sigh.

If James ever found out that there was even a possibility of this child not being his, let alone a chance that it belonged to one of his enemies from school, she knew it would break James's heart. And that was something she did not want to do. She felt nervous at the prospect of hiding this from him, but it had to be done. She really did love James and wanted to keep him from all the pain she could.

Floating everything onto the table, she told herself that she needed to find a charm or a potion of some sort in case this child was Severus' and actually looked like him. If the baby looked more like her, then she wouldn't worry too much about it.

Dinner guests, that evening, included members of the Order of the Phoenix, Albus Dumbledore himself, and a few other friends. They were all ecstatic to hear that Lily was expecting.

But what made the entire evening was when Lily looked at Sirius Black (James' best friend) and told him that James asked 'how' she could be pregnant.

By the time everyone left, they all had aching ribs from laughing so hard because Sirius had indeed explained 'how' a baby was made ... in extreme detail.

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A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	9. A Chat Between Friends

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 9

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About 4 months into her pregnancy, Lily had found a very old, very ancient potion that would allow her baby to have his appearance genes changed and it could be given to the child _after_ birth. She had found a few potions like that, but those had to be taken while she was carrying the child, and she didn't want to do that unless it was necessary. So finding this potion had made her extremely happy.

According to the book, the potion would swap out any appearance genes that would have been Severus' and replaced it with James'. The book also said that it would not affect any knowledge genes or anything else along those lines, which was also another plus.

As she looked the potion over, she saw that it was very complicated, but she believed that she could do it. Potions was one of her best classes in school, charms being the other. The only thing that could possibly be considered difficult was getting a hold of Severus' blood. She doubted she'd have any trouble getting a hold of James'.

Lily still hoped that she wouldn't have to use the potion. She saw James getting more and more excited as each day passed. She didn't really want to deny him his son, but there was no sense in not being prepared.

Occasionally, she would see Severus check up on her. This warmed her heart greatly. It also meant that he was still alive, which she was thankful for. She would often smile and nod at him to let her know that she was alright. She frequently found herself looking forward to the next time she would glimpse him.

During her fifth month, she told James that she wanted to visit Albus for an afternoon to catch up with him. Since she was pregnant, she couldn't do a lot of stuff for the Order anymore. So while he was at work, she floo'd to Albus' office.

"Lily! How wonderful to see you! My, you're getting far along." Albus pulled her over to sit in a chair across from his desk.

"Hello Albus." She laughed as she carefully took a seat. "I swear, I think I'm carrying around a bludger with the way the baby kicks all the time. It has become a bit more difficult to floo while pregnant than while not. So, how are you?"

"I'm well, my dear. The question is though, how are you?"

"I'm alright. Actually, I wanted to discuss something with you. Are we alone?" Lily felt a little bit nervous.

"Yes. I don't have any appointments for a while. What is it you need to discuss?"

Albus offered her some candy from a dish, which she politely refused.

Lily took a steadying breath knowing that Severus would be angry with her for what she was about to say. "I wanted to let you know that one of Voldemort's Death Eater's has been working against him on the inside. This person would probably be furious with me for telling you, but I'm doing it anyway." She wasn't even sure why she was saying this, but she felt that she had to let Albus know.

"What makes you believe this?" Albus asked, his eyes showing curiosity.

"Well, this person told me and there was no lie in his eyes when he confessed. I've known about it for months now. Is there anything we can do to help him?" Lily knew her tone of voice made it sound like she was pleading, but she didn't really care at this point. She was constantly worried for Severus' safety.

Albus gave her a swift searching look. "Lily, he would have to come to me of his own volition. He would have to confess himself to me and it would have to be on his own. You can't coax him to come here. There has to be true repentance."

She nodded. "I figured as much. I just wanted to make sure. This person has a good heart, but it would take something extraordinary to push him your way."

She glanced down at her stomach without even realizing that she was doing so.

Albus pondered her for a moment. "It doesn't matter what the catalyst is, so long as he is genuine and true if he comes to me. I would decide what to do with him from there."

She nodded again. "Thank you Albus. Is there any way we can not mention this conversation to anyone?"

"Of course. Anything for you." He grinned at her, the twinkle back in his eyes.

For the next hour or so they caught up on various other things. Albus found it particularly amusing to hear tale of James' adventure of trying to set up the crib the muggle way before getting so frustrated he just pointed his wand at it, which in turn made it blow up. They continued to laugh quite a bit about a few other incidents before it was time for Lily to leave. And when she did leave, she felt a little more light hearted than when she had first arrived.

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A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	10. The Stork Arrives

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

Lily had woken up from her nap quite suddenly. As she glanced around the room trying to figure out why, a contraction hit. The baby was coming, and with the force of that contraction, he was coming now!

"James! James! It's time!" Lily called, excitedly.

Remus came running through the bedroom door. "He had to leave for a little while Lily. Oh, he's gonna be furious. I was told to stay here in case you needed something. Come on. Let's get you to St. Mungo's."

Lily nodded and allowed herself to be pushed toward the door. She was curious as to why James wasn't there but before she could ponder the situation even further, another contraction hit her. On the way out the door, she grabbed her bag which held the potion that she hoped she'd never have to use. She had finished it the month prior.

Upon arriving at St. Mungo's, Lily was pushed into a delivery room. The medi-witch was quite fussy, which made Lily glare a lot in between contractions.

Remus, however, waited in the hallway, pacing up and down the corridor, flinching every time he heard Lily yell. He wondered _why in the name of Merlin's pants _there were not silencing charms placed on the ward for deliveries.

After three _hard_ hours of labor, she had finally given birth to a baby boy.

Lily took one look at him and saw that he was a very beautiful child, and it made her heart glow. She also saw that he did indeed belong to Severus and not James. There was no way James would miss that. There wasn't even any use in hoping that he would.

She asked the medi-witch to hold off in bringing anyone in for the moment. The nurse nodded and resumed cleaning up the room.

Lily admired her son. She took two pictures of him and then hid them in her bag. She then pulled out the potion. Letting a tear fall down her cheek, she gave little Harry (the name had already been decided) three drops of the potion and watched as it took effect. All of the facial features except the eyes and nose transformed into James'. The reason that those two didn't change was because they were replica's of Lily's. She could feel her heart breaking that she had to do this, but it was done to protect James as well as to protect Severus.

She wearily pushed the potion back into her bag just in time to look up and see her husband running to her bedside. "I'm gonna murder Dumbledore. He's the one that sent me away. He told me that it would only take a couple of hours. It turned out that those were the hours you needed me the most." James' eyes were very apologetic.

Lily grinned and also felt some relief. If James had been there, she wasn't exactly sure how she would have given the potion without being caught. "It's alright darling. I'm sure Remus can tell you all the nice things I called you while I was pushing." She grinned as she looked over at Remus, who was now standing in between Sirius and Peter.

"Trust me, James, it's better you weren't here. You'd probably be hexed into next week." Remus said while laughing.

"Got that right," the medi-witch said with a grin. "It's not unusual for women in labor to let loose with uncontrolled magic that hexes the father." She then leaned over to check on the baby and the mother. If she noticed a difference in the baby's appearance, she never said. "This is actually a nice change of pace."

At everyone's questioning look, she explained what she meant.

"Normally, about this time, I'm rushing the father up to the fourth floor to get de-hexed - which, at times, can be quite a job since most don't want to leave their newborns," she said with a grin.

Everyone laughed.

Lily then looked up at her husband. "James. Darling. The next time, you get to be the one to give birth and I'll go stand in the hallway."

Everyone snickered as they gathered around to look at the child named Harry James Potter.

"A little marauder in the making, I just know it!" Sirius exclaimed. That made Lily groan out loud which in turn, once again, had everyone laughing.

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A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	11. The Prophecy Deciphered

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 11

* * *

It had been over two weeks since Severus had been summoned to a Death Eater's meeting. Actually, it had been that long since anyone had even seen the Dark Lord. Still, he had been forced to go on a couple of 'raids,' as Lucius called them.

Severus hated the raids because he _had_ to torture people, otherwise it would raise suspicion, but he never uttered the Killing Curse. Bellatrix had always preferred to do it, so he let her when he knew that he could not save the victims.

Sunday evening had found Severus sitting on his couch, drinking a glass of his best elf-made wine. He was exhausted because he had finally finished four of the potions that had been brewing for months. As he sipped the wine, he realized that he had not had the time to seek Lily out for about three weeks.

"Surely she's had her baby by now," he muttered to himself as he took another sip of his drink.

He wanted to watch Lily interact with the child. They had talked about children while they had been together. He smiled as he remembered how her eyes used to light up at the mention of kids. She would be an amazing mother.

Severus had to go to Hogwarts on Tuesday for a final interview with the Headmaster. He decided that if he finished early, he would head to Godric's Hollow to see if he could get a glimpse of her.

After he drank his glass of wine, he headed to bed.

The next morning, just after he had ate breakfast, Severus felt his mark burn. Grabbing his Death Eater mask and robes, he put them on, and apparated toward where the summons was pulling him.

He knelt before Voldemort's feet and waited with the others. There were only twelve people kneeling when he had beckoned them to rise.

These were the people that the Dark Lord trusted the most. So if it was, indeed, all that was coming, then this was a meeting of great importance. Everyone took their correct seat for when this particular group was called. Severus' seat was directly to the right of the Dark Lord, Lucius' seat was directly to the left. He knew that under the mask, Lucius had a smug, superior look on his face. It took quite a bit of restraint for Severus not to roll his eyes at the man.

"I have summoned my most loyal follower's to my side today to announce that after a couple of weeks of researching, speculating, and ... torture (everyone could feel the glee come off of him as he spoke), that I have discovered the answer to the prophecy!"

Severus had been correct. This _was_ a meeting of great importance. He had been so busy preparing potions that he had forgotten about the prophecy all together. At least he now knew why the Dark Lord needed Veritaserum the month prior.

"It seems that the _child_," hissed Voldemort - the word just barely not spoken in parseltongue, "that is _supposed_ to be my downfall is the son of ..."

He paused for dramatic effect, mostly just to watch everyone lean in toward him.

" ... James and Lily Potter."

Severus felt his heart stop and his lungs quit working.

"I'm sure that those gathered here know of the battles that I've had in the past with the Potters, so this shouldn't really come as a surprise to many of you."

A few agreed. However, Severus still felt like his heart and lungs were frozen and it seemed like his gut was now on the floor as well.

"Dear sweet Lily Potter had her son on July 31st, which as those in this room know is _when the seventh month dies_. This child, _Harry James Potter,_ is a half blood wizard, thus he would be harder to sway to our side. So it will be the Potter's that we have to hunt down, and then I shall end this threat before it can even become one."

Voldemort sat himself upon his throne (he had began pacing at some prior point) and told everyone that they were to find out all that they could about the Potters but not harm them. That job was to be left for himself. He then dismissed them all.

As the Dark Lord's most faithful servants left the room, Severus realized he could breathe again. However, before he could form a coherent thought, Lucius strode up next to him and whispered in his ear, "Bad luck Snape. Maybe if you ask nice enough, he'll let you play with the mudblood before he kills her."

Severus inwardly groaned. Now he was going to have to tell the Dark Lord about his past relationship with Lily. So, instead of leaving with everyone else, he approached the Dark Lord's throne and knelt before him, waiting to be recognized.

Voldemort eyed him warily. "Stand Severus. What is it you need?"

"Thank you, my Lord. I'm unaware if you heard the exchange between Lucius and myself, but either way, you should know that this woman, Lily Potter, she and I have a history. We dated for several years while we attended Hogwarts together."

Snape let his mind be probed just enough to prove this.

"According to my information Severus, she's a mudblood. A muggle born witch."

"She is my Lord, but she was very intelligent and her blood line was easy to overlook. I was often otherwise _pre-occupied _with her." As he spoke, Severus made sure he sounded offended in retrospect, at the idiocy of dating someone that was muggle-born. As for _what_ he said, he would just let the Dark Lord make his own assumptions behind the meaning of his words.

"I just wanted to bring this to your attention, My Lord. I did not want you to think that I would ever deceive you by withholding information. I only live to serve you." He knelt again.

In all honesty, he expected to be punished for admitting to dating a muggle-born, so he prepared himself to be hit by the Cruciatus Curse.

Voldemort looked over one of his most trusted councils and beckoned him to stand again.

"Severus, you have served me very faithfully these past few years. You were young and naive about the world then, so I will look over that transgression. However, I do not need to kill the woman. I imagine the husband will be a problem, but the child is my main target. If she stays out of the way, I will spare her for you."

"Thank you my Lord. You are very merciful." Severus bowed again.

"Now, how goes the task I set for you?"

"Good news on that, my Lord. I have a final interview for the Potion Master's position tomorrow, so I should know within the week."

"Very good Severus. Very good. Dismissed."

Severus, yet again, bowed before dis-apparating.

* * *

A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	12. The Confession

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 12

* * *

When Severus apparated back to Spinner's End, he checked his wards before he sat on his couch to try to reign in his emotions. He could not let anything happen to Lily or her family. He would do anything to protect her, even if it meant going to prison himself.

"Dumbledore," he muttered. That's who he needed to go to and he needed to do it before tomorrow.

After he finally regained control of himself, Severus went to his writing desk. Once he steadied his shaking hand, he began to quill the Headmaster.

_Professor Dumbledore,_

_I received your owl as soon as I arrived home this afternoon. The short notice change for the Potion Master's interview is fine. I will be ready by 7pm and will also bring samples of my work as you requested. I will meet you at the gates of Hogwarts._

_Severus T. Snape_

Severus tied the letter to his owl's leg and told him that it was a direct delivery and to fly with haste.

There, of course, was no change, but on the chance that his owl was intercepted, he wanted to make sure that it would seem to anyone reading it that he had a legitimate reason to be going to Hogwarts tonight, instead of tomorrow.

At 6:45, Severus grabbed his outer cloak, some potions to show the Headmaster, and then apparated toward the school.

At the gate, Albus Dumbledore was waiting for him. He was slightly relieved at this because it meant that he had received his letter. He was also nervous because he was unsure of what was about to happen, and he hated feeling unsure of anything. He started to wonder if he would even be believed, but he put on a passive face for the Headmaster and began to walk toward him.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Severus. I'm afraid that I have to take a trip tomorrow and I hoped that you could do your last interview tonight."

"It's not a problem at all, Headmaster." Severus was grateful that Dumbledore was playing along with him.

Together, they trekked up to his office. When they arrived, Albus offered him some tea, but he momentarily declined it. He wanted to get this over with.

"I suppose you are wondering why I sent you such a cryptic letter?" Severus asked as he attempted to get comfortable in one of the chairs in the office.

"Indeed I was, but I figured that you had a good reason." Albus leaned back in his own chair slightly, propping his hands up under his chin.

Severus took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "We are alone, right?"

Albus nodded, however, the use of those particular words were not lost on him.

"I have many things to tell you, but it may take a while."

"No one will interrupt us," Albus reassured.

Taking another steadying breath, Severus launched into how he became a Death Eater. He explained how he regretted it, how, when it was possible, he tried to mess up what plots he could without being discovered. He described his role in everything. He then took out a piece of parchment that listed every horrible deed he had ever done, everything he had ever witnessed, and every potion that he had ever made for the Dark Lord. He then proceeded to take a sample of each potion out of his robes.

After nearly two hours of talking himself hoarse, he looked up at Dumbledore, even though he was partially afraid of his gaze. He felt drained. He had not realized that he would feel as he did. Finding the Headmaster's blue eyes, he saw that they were studying him, but also that they did not hold judgement ... at least not yet.

"You still haven't told me why you're here or why you are confessing yourself to me, Severus."

Severus sighed. "The prophecy that I was forced to overhear, I had no choice but to relay what I had heard to the Dark Lord because Malfoy also heard the same thing. We only heard the first little bit before we were ... er ... discovered. It is for this reason that the Dark Lord believes it pertains to the Potters. He plans to go after their son." Severus' voice finally cracked. He berated himself for showing that sign of weakness.

"Ah, yes. You and Lily were close, were you not?"

Severus nodded.

"Why not ask your master to spare her for the child?" Albus' eyes flashed menacingly.

"In a manner of speaking, I did, but only because it was expected of me to do so. I had to tell him of our previous relationship before he found out on his own. I want Lily to be safe, but I also know it will devastate her if her son and her husband were killed as well. As much as I detested Potter growing up, I would never wish death upon him. Please hide them. Hide them all."

Albus gave him a searching look. "I believe you when you say those things. Now, what would you have me do with _you_?"

"If you promise to do your best to protect Lily and her family, you may do with me as you wish. I relinquish myself to your control ..." He let his voice trail off.

They were silent for quite some time. Severus finally picked up his tea because he needed something to help soothe his sore throat from where had he talked for so long. He also hoped that it would help calm his nerves. If he was allowed to return home, he would need to take one of his calming draughts.

Finally Albus spoke. "Since I believe you have been truthful with me, I must also be truthful with you. I have known for quite some time now that someone was working from the inside against Voldemort."

Severus audibly groaned. "Lily ..."

At this Albus chuckled, the twinkle back in his eyes. "Yes. She told me, but she did not give me your name. However, I've suspected it was you for a while now. The first time you interviewed with me, I saw some good left in you, some light, as it were, in the midst of the dark storm that was raging around you. Why do you think I kept calling you back in here for interviews? It was to partially give you an opportunity to do what you just did. To confess to me."

"If _you_ saw 'the good in me', as you put it, with only our first meeting, then why hasn't the Dark Lord killed me yet?" Severus asked, truly curious. "He does _not_ tolerate traitors."

"Because Voldemort does not look for the good in anybody. It's one of his weaknesses."

Severus nodded then went back to his other train of thought. "You said partially. May I inquire as to what you meant by that?" He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Dumbledore chuckled. "I said partially because I really was interviewing you for the Potion Master's position."

"You _knew_ that I had the Dark Mark, yet you were still interviewing me to actually hire me?" Severus had a hard time believing that.

"Yes. Your potion knowledge and skills ranks you among the top people in Britain, if not the nation. That is quite a feat for anyone, but more so for you because of your very young age. Especially considering you obtained your certification not to long after you turned seventeen, while you were still _in_ school. I daresay that your knowledge is likely to be greater now than it was then."

Severus just stared at the Headmaster, unaware that his mouth was hanging open. He began to feel some color creep up the back of his neck but made sure that it went no further. He had never told anyone that he had sat for the exam during his final school year. Though, now that he thought on it, it really didn't surprise him that Dumbledore knew considering the Dark Lord also knew about it. That's why he was sought after to begin with. He suddenly realized that his mouth was open and hurriedly closed it while trying to look dignified again.

"Granted, had you not confessed yourself to me, you would not have gotten the job because I _will not_ put the students in any more danger than these times currently dictate." Albus said sternly. "Now, I am going to give you the Potion Master's job, as you are more than qualified for it, but I do have some stipulations." Albus said very seriously, leaning forward in his chair.

Severus schooled the shock from his face.

"First off, you are to assume the role of a spy. Tell me of Voldemort's comings and goings, just like he wanted you to do to me. We will work out some things to disclose to him so that he will think you are truly in the know, therefore you will suffer less from his punishments. I assume that he will actually work along a similar path with you when you tell him that I want you to spy on him."

Severus choked on his tea.

However, before he could ask _what in the name of Merlin _Dumbledore was thinking of, it dawned on him what was implied. "I assume the only difference between the two spying jobs is that while I only disclose to him what you tell me, I will disclose _all_ of his movings and thoughts to you without holding anything back."

Albus nodded at his understanding. "I'm sure you can think of your own creative ways to inform him of the reason I let you have the job." There was a certain twinkle in the Headmaster's blue eyes.

Severus nodded.

"Now, another condition is that if and when Voldemort falls, you _will_ be placed on trial. However, if your service to me is faithful, and you have given me no reason to distrust you, the trial will remain discreet and I will do my best to shield you from Azkaban."

Severus nodded. "Thank you, Headmaster." A slight weight felt like it had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"I do have two other conditions. One is that if we are successful in keeping you out of Azkaban, I will require you to stay on to teach. Your potion skills alone would have me practically begging you to stay for this job. Now, I am aware that you are young for a teacher and might be unsure at first, but I remember you to be a quick study. If I did not think that you would be an excellent educator, I would not have even considered you for the job, let alone given it to you. I take the students learning very seriously."

Before Severus could even form a thought at what was just said to him, he realized that the Headmaster was speaking again.

"Now, before I give you my final stipulation, I would like to know where you learned to be such an accomplished Occlumens, as I'm sure that Voldemort does not teach his follower's to hide their thoughts from him, and also if you can perform legilimency as well?"

"My mother taught me a little more than the basics and once I started at Hogwarts, I honed my skills by reading every book about it that I could get my hands on. And yes, I can perform legilimency as well."

"I'm impressed, Severus. That is not a well known branch of magic and I can count on two hands how many people are truly successful at it, especially to the extent in which you are.

"Anyway, the reason I asked is because my final condition is that you lower your occlumency shields around me. Not necessarily at all times and not all the way, but I've seen that you hide your emotions behind your shield, and while I understand why you do it, I would prefer that you did not do so in my presence.

"You're human and humans show emotion, and letting some emotion out, even if it is just a little, is better than keeping it shoved in the back of your head. It will make you crazy."

Severus nodded again. "I agree as long as you do your best to protect Lily and her family." Truthfully, he was wary about the final condition and he knew that it would not be easy. However, he would try, if only to protect Lily. So, he lowered his shields some. Then before he knew why he said it, he looked at the Headmaster and asked, "Would you like to see some of my memories to prove my loyalty to you?"

Severus scowled after the question came out.

Albus nodded, surprised at the offer. They both watched as memory after memory flooded by, both good and bad.

An hour later, with a couple of breaks in between, he was told to replace some of his shields. Enough had been seen by the Headmaster to know that Severus was indeed telling the truth and that he was truly repentant. Actually, he knew that before he entered his mind, but since the choice was given, he was curious as to what he would find.

"You really love her don't you?" Albus asked, as if he was merely inquiring about the weather forecast for the next day.

He glowered at the Headmaster. "Yes. I do. And I would do _anything _to protect her."

"Why did you not get married to her?" Albus didn't seem perturbed by the look that he was getting, which was odd, because even Voldemort would have scampered at _that_ look. Instead, he waited patiently for an answer. Only afterwards would he understand why that look was given to him.

Realizing that the Headmaster would not let up, he sighed and responded with the truth. "We had an incident toward the middle of our 7th year. She never forgave me that night, no matter how much I begged. I actually threatened to sleep in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, and would have if McGonagall hadn't caught me outside of it. I then went off on my own, as I told you previously, and was Marked.

"A month or so after that, Lucius took me on my first raid. To say that I was horrified at what I saw would be an understatement. Lucius just had me watch at the first muggle house we went to. The Death Eater's swarmed the family before they had even moved. I had to watch as they tortured them. Yet, torture was the kindest thing that several of the Dark Lord's follower's did. You saw the memory ... "

Severus' voice went cold but he still continued talking.

"At the next house, Lucius told me that it would only be myself, him, and one other. The Dark Lord was also to arrive, but I didn't know it at the time. So we entered the house. I quickly sent three silent stunning spells towards the family before Lucius got to them. It was then that I felt the Dark Lord's presence, even though I could not see him. Knowing that there was no way out, I sent thoughts of pleasure and joy above my occlumency shields as well as plastered a look of sadistic happiness on my face, even though I had my mask on."

Albus noticed that Severus had a distant look in his eyes.

"I had no choice but to torture the muggles. I could have ran, but it was pointless as I knew that they would still be harmed and then I would be hunted down and killed as well. Lucius was thrilled to see my reaction as was the Dark Lord. I later found out that he did not believe that I would torture them, so that is why he went to watch. Afterwards, my 'breaking in party' was declared a triumphant success. At home, I was physically ill for at least 12 hours because of what I had done."

Albus nodded because he had seen the memory in which Severus alluded to. Then to his surprise and slight worry, a small smirk briefed his face. "To this day, the Dark Lord still does not know that I've yet to rape anyone, nor that I've never uttered the Killing Curse. I think that is the only thing that has kept me semi sane throughout this war. I know that my luck won't always hold out, but for now, I pray that it does."

Albus prayed that it would as well.

Bringing himself out of whatever state he was in, he shook his head, then continued. His voice took on an icy edge again.

"Anyway, the Auror's started arriving, but as it seemed to be my fate, my mask fell and Potter, who was still in training, saw me, but the other's did not. As you know, it takes two to officially make an ID. He went straight to Lily's house that night and told her, but she refused to believe it. Eventually, she did start to acknowledge it because every chance he got, he made sure to remind her of it. There was such an incredible amount of pain in her eyes." The last line was whispered.

After he realized he said that aloud, Severus desperately hoped that he would not have to explain how he knew that.

"We have talked since then, as you know, and she told me that she regretted not accepting my apology. I told her of my many regrets as well. Now the only thing that is keeping us apart, other than Potter of course, (he sneered out of habit) is the fact that I do not want her to become a Death Eater's wife. She deserves better than that. She deserves happiness. She deserves all the thing's that I cannot possibly give her. She deserves the world.

"She does not deserve to have to live her life in fear over whether her husband's master might summon her to him to make her join his cause or make her pledge her children over to him. She does not deserve to worry about what her husband is out doing on raid nights, even if he would prefer to be with her. She does not deserve to have to live her life in constant fear, which is how it would be if I were to outright desert the Dark Lord, which I would not hesitate in doing if we were indeed married. _No one _deserves that, her least of all ..." He trailed off as if in thought.

Albus watched him for a few minutes while he reminisced. He could see the regret in Severus' eyes over some of his past choices. Anyone would be able to see that he really did love Lily and the kind of love that the Headmaster currently saw in his young, yet old eyes was a rare form. It was true love. He had only ever seen or even encountered that kind of love a few times in his past, and it was wonderful to see that Severus could indeed love after all that he had been made to witness and participate in. There was, indeed, a lot of hope for the 20 year old man sitting in front of his desk, even if Severus himself did not realize it.

Albus knew that Severus would be angry with the amount of emotion he was showing, so he cleared his throat lightly to bring him back to the present. He watched as he straightened himself up in the chair.

"Thank you for telling me that. I now know that it was not an easy thing to do." In all honesty, he had not expected such an elaborate answer to his question, but was glad to see that Severus felt secure enough to tell him what he did.

Severus nodded. It was then that he realized how little of his occlumency shield was up. Yes, he had agreed to take it down, but had only planned on doing so a little at a time. He also realized that he must have, yet again, shown quite a bit of emotion. This did not sit very well with him. But, before he could even _begin_ to figure out what emotion he had shown, the Headmaster had started to speak again.

"Now, did Voldemort mention any other possibilities for the prophecy or were the Potter's the only one?"

"The Potter's were the only one he mentioned. He said that since the child was half-blood, he would be harder to persuade to his cause." Severus replied while picking up another cup of tea in an attempt to re-settle his nerves.

Albus nodded.

Severus saw that the Headmaster had a knowing look in his eye, but did not comment on it.

"All right. I'll talk with the Potter's tomorrow. I imagine they will be safe for the current time until Voldemort prepares himself properly. He never did like to do anything half-way."

The two men sat and talked strategy well until the morning hours. At one point in the conversation, Albus realized that he was being stared at.

"How do you know that you can trust me?"

Albus smiled at the question and actually looked quite pleased to hear it. "I believe in second chances. When I give those second chances, they come with complete trust. After all, one can not hope to build a relationship around dis-trust."

Severus stared at him for a moment. "How do you know that I'm not just acting the part that the Dark Lord bid me to do?"

Albus smiled again. "Your questions for one thing give that away, but I have seen your heart Severus, even though you did not wish me to. I can see how you feel about Lily through your eyes. When I was in your mind, I could see it there too. Then earlier, you opened your heart up and I also saw it there. Love is not something that can be acted in all three places at once. Not with the kind of love that I saw."

Severus' pale cheeks tinged pink.

"You trust me, do you not?"

Severus nodded. "I always have, even during school."

"That is why you let yourself open up to me like you have tonight. After you confessed to me, I suppose, you could say, that it was your subconscious's way of telling you that it was alright to do so in my presence. More importantly, it was your choices that let me trust you, not just your love for Lily."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "How can you say that? I have made some _very_ bad choices in my life." His gaze fell to the floor.

"Yes, you have, but you have also made some very good ones as well. Among the choices that were presented to you, you made the decision to do what was right instead of what was easy many, many times. When you did choose what was easy, do you not regret those moments more?"

Severus thought back from early in his childhood until the present and saw that Albus was, once again, right. "I understand," he heard himself say.

"And now you know why I trust you?"

"I do, and so much more."

Albus beamed. He was pleased he had gotten his point across so effectively because now there was a look of understanding, and to a lesser extent, peace on Severus' face that was not present an hour ago.

Before Severus left, Albus gave him an official letter welcoming him to the staff. Severus was proud of himself for _all_ that was accomplished this past night. And what was more, he knew that Dumbledore was proud of him as well, and that was an amazing feeling.

As he used the floo network to arrive back to his house, he was shocked to realize that he did not even need to use the calming draught that he had thought of earlier. While he readied himself for bed, he knew that he had a lot in his life to atone for, but he felt that for once, he was finally headed in the right direction.

* * *

A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	13. Half Made Plans

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

A/N: The Fidelius Charm is probably described as working slightly different here than in the books, so please bear with me.

* * *

Chapter 13

* * *

The next day Severus awoke with a start. He could not remember why he had set his clock that early at first, but slowly, the reason came back to him.

He quickly showered and dressed. He then pulled his Death Eater robes on. However, before he placed his mask on his face, he began to go over, in his mind, what he was about to say and do.

If he had to admit it to himself (not that he would, of course) he would have to say that he was slightly scared. He trusted Dumbledore completely. It's just that he had been doing this for so long on his own, it was going to take a while to get used to outside help. Then, of course, there is the fact that he was about to take his deceivery up to a whole new level with the Dark Lord. One mistake and he would be dead. He imagined Lucius and Bella both would beg to deliver the final blow.

Steadying his nerves, readying his mind, and firming his shields with practiced ease, he placed his mask on then dis-apparated into nothingness toward his 'master'.

Voldemort was sitting at a table conversing (or flirting, one could never really tell) with Bellatrix Lestrange and two other people when Severus appeared at his feet.

"Stand Severus. You have news?"

The hissing of Voldemort's voice made Severus have to repress the usual shudder.

"I do, my Lord, but I wonder if we may speak alone?" Severus bowed again before looking up to where the Dark Lord could study him.

After a moment, he turned to the other three people in the room and said, "Leave us." Severus smirked at Bella's highly affronted look. He had often wondered before now how her husband felt being second best next to the Dark Lord.

Once they had left, Severus was allowed to sit in his usual chair at the table.

"My Lord, I have successfully managed to acquire the Potion Master's position at Hogwarts, however ... there was one _slight_ problem." He let his voice show some well calculated disgust.

"Go on."

Severus could feel the Dark Lord's anger slowly rising for it was well known that he did not like problems.

"It seems that the arrogant old man knew where my true loyalties lie." He let his ire rise purposefully. "I spent the greater part of two hours groveling at his feet, begging for his forgiveness."

Voldemort stared at him, probing his servant's mind as spoke to gauge his truthfulness.

"Trust me, my Lord, it was not an enjoyable thing. My thoughts were to get back to you as quickly as I could. I still have no idea how he even found out whom I served." His voice grew to a whispering menace. "Then the old man looked at me and told me that I could have the job if I agreed to spy on you."

The Dark Lord's eyes flickered open in a momentary shock of surprise.

"I was about to tell him that I would rather spend my time in Azkaban with the Dementors when I had a thought ..."

Severus and Voldemort talked for hours. It turned out that he was pleased with his servant's quick thinking. They discussed many things and made many plans.

Several times during the day, people would apparate in to bring the Dark Lord news and most of the time they would ask to speak to their master alone. Each time, the request was denied. At one point, Bella attempted to re-enter the room. It took all of Severus' willpower and strength to keep the amusement out of his mind and off of his face as he watched her get sent away again.

"When you begin your _work_, you are not to come to me unless you have important information or I otherwise summon you directly. It would not be ... prudent for you to appear less than loyal to that meddlesome old fool. If you are gone from the castle too long, to often, he will fire you and then I will need another way to spy on him. The information you have already brought me is useful, especially concerning the Potter's. I would like to keep you there for as long as possible."

Severus bowed. "Of course, my Lord."

It was evening before Severus went back to Spinners' End. After dinner, he checked on his potions. Then he picked up a book to read, but yet again, his thoughts strayed to Lily.

* * *

Meanwhile ... sort of

* * *

Albus was sipping on his tea, trying to get rid of his headache. He could take a potion that would relieve it instantly, but he hated the taste of it.

He had met with the Potter's that morning to inform them that they were in an incredible amount of danger. It did not go as well as he had hoped it would.

He did not tell them of the prophecy. In hindsight, he was sure that if he did, it would have made things a lot easier, but for the moment, he did not want anyone to know its full contents.

* * *

"James, you know that I would not tell you that you, Lily, and the baby were in danger if it was not true."

James Potter was pacing around Albus' office, very upset.

"You could have told me alone. Lily doesn't need to hear these things."

Lily was holding Harry, who at the moment was sleeping. She narrowed her eyes at her husband. "James, I am a grown woman _and _your wife. I have as much a right to know as you do. Albus was right in telling us together. Please sit down so that we can discuss what we're going to do."

"Do? Lily I am NOT hiding from that mad man. I'm not afraid of him!"

"James, please sit down!"

James finally sat in a chair beside of his wife and son.

"Now, as I was saying, I was told by a source ..."

"Who?" James interrupted.

Lily sent a reproachful look to her husband which made him shut up. Honestly, if that look had been sent toward the Headmaster, he had to admit that even he would have closed his mouth. He knew that Lily was a fierce woman to contend with when angered.

"I am not going to give away my source. Now, according to this person, you are being targeted by Voldemort directly. I want you, Lily, and Harry to be placed under the Fidelius Charm"

Lily made a strangled noise in her throat. "Is it that serious, Albus?"

Albus nodded. "It is." He knew that Lily would understand the gravity of the situation at the mention of that particularcharm as charms had been one of her best subjects at school.

"Lily? What is it?"

Lily sighed. The Headmaster nodded at her to go ahead and explain it.

"The Fidelius Charm is very complex. When it is activated, our house, which is already unplottable, would be hidden from everyone. Voldemort himself could have his nose pressed up against our living room window but he would still not be able to see us nor get to us."

"That doesn't sound bad ..." James found himself mumbling.

Lily continued speaking. "However, there is a catch."

James rolled his eyes. "Isn't there always?"

Lily was beyond frustrated with him but she continued her explanation. "The charm requires a secret keeper. For example, if we made Albus our secret keeper, only he would be able to get to us directly."

Seeing that James was about to interrupt again, she rushed on to explain. "Now, if Albus was to tell our address to Sirius, he would be able to come and visit us, but Sirius would _not_ be able to tell Remus or anyone else the address. Only Albus would have that power.

"Now, if Albus were killed, then everyone he told our address to, in turn, becomes a secret keeper themselves."

"She's right. Also, while you are under the Fidelius Charm it really is best to not leave your house. It would also be best to not let anyone other than your secret keeper know the address. If anyone follows the keeper close enough coming into your place, it's like they were told directly, and while that person still could not speak the address, they could apparate someone else in with them."

James, letting his Gryffindor pride get the best of him, finally spoke after a moment. "I will not become a prisoner in my own home. I will not let my wife and son become a prisoner in their own home. I say, yet again, I _will not hide_ from that mad man. I can protect our family perfectly fine on my own."

Albus looked frustrated.

Lily, on the other hand, looked like she was going to throttle James.

"Let's go home and discuss this. Surely Sirius, Remus, or even Peter can talk some sense into you."

"NO!"

James and Lily both started and looked up at Albus.

"I cannot make you go into hiding, but I must tell you to not speak to _anyone_, and I mean _anyone_ about what we have discussed here today. Not even to your friends nor to the other members of Order. I am not supposed to know that you are being targeted and there are more than just your lives at stake with the information that I have told you today."

Lily and James both nodded in agreement. They would not discuss this with anyone. At least, not until Albus told them that they could.

"Please, go home and discuss things privately. I will support you in whatever you decide, but remember, I want to protect all three of you."

"We'll let you know. Let's go Lily." James helped his wife and son up out of the chair and together, all three floo'd back to their house.

* * *

Finally giving in, Albus went to fetch the potion that would relieve the tension in his head.

"I hope Severus had more luck today than I did," he muttered to Fawkes, his Phoenix.

Fawkes let out a low musical cry. The Headmaster headed back toward his desk to get some more paperwork completed. He still needed to go to the dungeons and have the castle make Severus' living quarters. The school term was fast approaching and he knew that his new potion master would be moving in the next day.

* * *

A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	14. Interfering Old Coot

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 14

* * *

The next day, Albus had shown Severus to his new quarters. He was to stay there during the school term but could also use it during the summer holidays.

First off, Severus was pleased that it was in the dungeons. That meant that he could almost always come and go to the Dark Lord without being observed by the students, which was the intended effect that the Headmaster was going for.

Severus was also quite pleased with the rooms themselves. He knew that most of the teacher's quarters in the castle had, to an extent, the same furnishings that he was given, but was delighted to see how the Headmaster had plotted it out, as if he knew the way that his own mind worked. (He would never tell that to Albus though.) He had a nice sized bedroom, a bathroom, and a decent sized library/sitting room. There was also a medium sized personal lab for his own use complete with storage for his potions, and an extra storage room that he could use as he saw fit.

When he had told the Headmaster that these rooms were 'acceptable', Albus had grinned mischievously at him. Before Severus could ask _why_ he was grinning, he was told what the temporary password to get into his private quarters via the school floo network was.

Severus scowled at the Headmaster as he had walked away laughing. He had then walked straight to the fireplace, threw the floo powder down, and said clearly, "Password change for Severus Snape's Quarters. Old password: twinkle toes. (He couldn't help but sneer.) New password: Asphodel."

Before Severus officially moved anything of his into the castle, he went and informed the Dark Lord of something that he had 'overheard' while he was reacquainting himself with Hogwarts. They had talked around two hours before he had allowed Severus to leave.

During that conversation, and much to Severus' surprise, he was told that he would not be summoned again until after the school year started. The Dark Lord told him to use that time to prepare himself for his classes. However, he was reminded that if he had anything that was newsworthy to report, he would be allowed to bring him that information.

That evening, Severus uprooted himself from Spinner's End. After he sent his belongings ahead to the castle, he sealed off his house with every privacy spell and ward he knew. Just because it was, now, mostly empty did not mean that he wanted anyone else to be able to get inside.

At the castle, he had worked through the night arranging his belongings in a fashion that pleased him. Before he finally headed off to bed, he re-examined his handiwork in each room. He liked things to be in a certain order, which was convulsively neat. Satisfied, he pointed his wand at the torches throughout his quarters to dim them as he swept into his bedroom to get some much needed sleep.

The next day he started working on his lesson plans, leaving his quarter's only for meals and staff meetings. That was what he was doing two days later when one of the castle's house elves appeared in front of him.

After the house elf bowed, he looked up at the Professor and squeaked, "Sir, Tibby was sent to tell you that Professor Dumbledore Sir wants to see you Sir!"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "And why did the Headmaster not just call me by floo?"

"I is not knowing sir. I was just told to come and tell you that you is wanted sir." Tibby was twisting her ears in fright of Severus.

He nodded, indicating that he would head up there. Tibby bowed again before dis-apparating.

Severus looked around at the papers scattered over his table and sighed.

With a little over a week to go before the start of term began, he found himself trying to conform Professor Slughorn's lesson plans (which he had gratefully let Severus have) to what he assumed would be his own teaching style. It was easier this way, especially since Slughorn had agreed to help Severus teach for the first couple of months until he got the hang of it himself. He was privately pleased with that because, even though he would never admit it to anyone, he _was_ nervous.

Standing up, he cast an evil sneer at the amount of papers that were in front of him before heading toward the Headmaster's office.

* * *

_Lily,_

_I was wondering if I might borrow yours and Harry's presence this afternoon. I have some papers that I would like your help with and, I dare say, that one of the many items in my office will keep the attention of young Harry. _

_I have temporarily connected your house to my floo for safety reasons, otherwise I'm sure that James would not let you visit. _

_Hoping you are well._

_Yours,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class; Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)_

When Lily had received that message, she could hardly wait to get out of the house. James had been practically standing guard over her and Harry when he wasn't at work. It was a bit annoying. So, she sent a letter to James at the Auror's Office, via owl so he couldn't protest immediately, to tell him where she was going and why. Afterwards she headed off to get Harry ready for the trip.

After Lily was satisfied that Harry was covered properly so he would not get soot all over him, nor have to breathe in the warm ash, she stepped into the fireplace to be whisked away toward Hogwarts.

Albus was thrilled to see them both. They talked for about 20 minutes before he finally revealed his true intentions as to why Lily was there.

Studying her, as if to gauge her reaction, Albus casually asked, "So, Lily. Would you like to see Severus?"

Her eyes snapped up, as she had been tickling her son. "He was the one to warn you that we were in danger, wasn't he?"

Albus nodded. "Only a handful of people know that you are being targeted directly and if you started discussing that with anyone, suspicion would fall on him immediately due to your prior relationship."

She nodded. "I figured as much. After we left your office the other day, I threatened to curse James into next week if he told anyone. Then I reminded him that I was sure that you would do the same thing." She chuckled. "I'm not sure which scared him more, to be honest."

Albus smiled and picked up a piece of candy as he spoke. "Severus turned himself over to me as soon as he realized you and your family were in danger. He is acting as a spy now. Only you, Minerva, Poppy, and myself know that."

"I won't tell anyone, Albus, you have my word. You asked if I could see him. Is he here?" Lily nervously bit her lip.

"He is." Albus watched as her eyes filled with the same emotion as Severus' had.

"Then yes. I would like to speak with him, if it's alright." She felt pixies flying around in her stomach.

"Tibby!"

A house elf _CRACKED_ into the room. "You called Professor Dumbledore sir?"

"Yes Tibby. I would like for you to go to the dungeons and tell Professor Snape (Lily's eyes widened in shock) that I would like to see him. Do not tell him that there is anyone with me."

Tibby squeaked and dropped her eyes. Albus was very kind to the elves in the castle and saw her tremble. He knew why she was hesitant to go. "Tibby. I know that Professor Snape can be ... grouchy ... at times but he won't do anything to you."

Tibby nodded, bowed, and dis-apparated toward the dungeons.

"Professor? Grouchy?" Lily leaned back in her chair, clearly confused.

"I'll let him tell you the first part and yes, grouchy. The man has been here two days and, as Minerva put it, is a walking sneer."

Lily burst out laughing.

"I know it's his defense mechanism, but I must admit that I have had fun pestering him about it. I have no doubt that the students are going to be petrified of him, but he is a natural genius when it comes to potions."

"Yes, he is" she agreed with a smile. "So, Professor Slughorn is finally retiring then?"

"He is. He did, however, agree to stay on an extra two months to show Severus the ropes of teaching."

Lily nodded at the same time that there was a knock at the door.

* * *

When Severus walked into the Headmaster's office, he felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Lily ..." He managed to rasp out. He watched as she handed the baby to Albus before running to hug him.

He inhaled her wonderful scent as he wrapped his arms around her just as tightly as she did him. Then, as she pulled away, he opened his eyes and glanced toward the Headmaster. He was not surprised to see that there was not only a _knowing_, but also a _mischievous_ glint in his eyes.

Before Severus could mutter anything, Albus had handed _him_ the baby, then excused himself. (Severus vaguely recalled him saying something about needing more lemon drops.)

As Albus left the room, he heard Severus finally speak. It greatly amused him that the words that found their way to his mouth first was 'interfering old coot'.

Severus looked down and finally realized that he was holding a baby. He suddenly became very, very self conscious. He had no idea how to hold a child, let alone a newborn.

Lily smiled as she watched a plethora of emotions flash through Severus' eyes. She knew that he would be angry with himself if he knew he betrayed his feelings like that, so she decided not to tell him. Instead, she guided him over to one of the chairs in the room and watched as he sat down, staring at the baby in his arms.

Severus had no idea how he had sat down, but was grateful. As he stared at Lily's son, he saw that he had her eyes and nose. "He's absolutely beautiful, Lily."

He tried to hand the baby back to his mother, but Harry had grabbed a hold of his robes and would not let go. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. What if he broke the baby? He was pretty sure that Lily would kill him if he did.

As if reading his mind, she let out a chuckle. "You won't break him, Sev. He's more resilient than you might think."

Severus looked up at her and felt _some_ comfort by her words, but was still nervous.

"What are you doing here?"

"Technically, I'm supposed to be here to help Albus with some paperwork for the Order. In reality, it seems his true intention was to see if I wanted to see you, and naturally, I did. So, _Professor_, I hear that I have you to thank for the warning that we were in danger."

His eyes met Lily's and he withered into a puddle of frogs spawn under her gaze as he nodded.

"Thank you, Severus." She had almost whispered it, but he knew that it was heartfelt. Her eyes told him as much. "And don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Actually I had assumed it was you to begin with, but Albus just confirmed it for me."

Severus nodded and felt his lips turn into a smile. "I didn't want anything to happen to you or your family Lily. Even though I can't have you, my feelings for you have not changed one bit. I ... I do still love you and I just wanted to make sure that you were safe and happy." Severus felt the color creep into his cheeks but he knew that yelling at himself would be pointless as he never could keep his emotions in check around her.

"My feelings for you haven't changed any either." Lily admitted while smiling.

She saw Severus reluctantly look away because Harry had managed to distract him. She laughed and smiled as she watched him play with his son (not that he knew that). It was a very heart warming scene. She interacted as much as she could, just to savor the moment.

Albus had carefully crept back into the edge of the room and watched Severus, Lily, and baby Harry interact. He was almost knocked backwards off of his feet at the amount and sheer power of the love that he could see and feel around the room between these three people. It really did take his breath away. He had not encountered such an intensity of emotions for many, many years. It warmed his old mans heart greatly. Before he slipped back out of the room, he snapped three different pictures and was unsurprised that they did not even notice.

As he silently closed the door, he patted himself on the back. He had proved most of what he had hoped to. He had proved that Lily and Severus felt the same toward each other and that they both knew it, _but_ both were in situations where nothing could really be done about it.

However, he still had an unanswered question, and not for the first time, nor would it be the last, he wondered if Severus was Harry's father.

* * *

Back in the Office

* * *

After about 15 or 20 minutes had passed, Severus found Lily's eyes while still managing to play with Harry. "Has he changed his mind about going into hiding, yet?"

When Albus had told Severus what had happened in his office, Severus was ready to go straight to Godric's Hollow and strangle James. If it wasn't for the fact that Dumbledore threatened to put him in a full body bind curse, he would have.

Lily sighed. "No. He keeps saying he's not a coward. Do you know why we're even being targeted?"

Severus nodded. "I do, but unless the Headmaster told you, then I cannot. He must have had his reasons for withholding that information from you."

"I figured as much. Sev," his eyes met hers (he had been playing with the baby again), "Thank you for trusting in Albus and going to him. Thank you ... for everything." She let her eyes drift to Harry, but for Severus being so smart, he never made the connection as to what she was subtly saying.

Damnit, he was blushing again. "Anything for you Lily. Anything." He allowed himself to smile.

Severus suddenly got a very shifty, sly look upon his face which made Lily quirk an eyebrow at him.

"So, am I allowed to hex Potter? Albus wouldn't let me when he told me what had transpired the other day."

Lily laughed which filled Severus' heart with a great amount of warmth. "No, Sev, you're not. However, _I_ am liable to hex him myself if I can't talk some sense into him soon."

Severus half smirked, half cringed which was a horrible look. She snorted at him. He would rather be hexed by himself before being on the receiving end of one of Lily's spells.

"So, tell me, how did this Professor thing happen?"

Severus sneered and just because he knew that the Headmaster was eavesdropping, he said, "The old man is blackmailing me and threatened me with torture if I didn't agree to teach."

Before Lily could scold him for saying such an awful thing, she heard Albus burst out laughing, which made her laugh in turn, because now she knew why he had said it.

They sat and talked for over an hour. Severus did finally tell her the real reason he was teaching and she had agreed with Albus, that he would be an excellent professor, even if he was a 'walking sneer'. At one point, Severus realized that Harry had fallen asleep, but he found that he did not want to relinquish his hold on him just yet.

Lily came close to telling Severus that Harry belonged to him several times, but she never did. She still had an urge to protect both him and James, so she kept biting her tongue.

Albus finally came out of wherever he was hiding and joined the conversation. He still had a few things to discuss with Lily before she returned home, so he gave Severus a pointed look.

"I think I'm being told to scram," Severus said while smirking.

Lily started to object, but was cut off. "It's alright, Lily. I need to go work on those confounded lesson plans some more. If I don't get them done soon, he's liable to find some way of putting _me_ in detention and Merlin knows that I had enough of that while I was a student."

Albus laughed.

Severus was unsure how to give Harry back to Lily without waking him, but was amazed when she scooped him up out of his arms with no problems at all. When their skin made contact with each other, Severus felt the adrenaline rush through his body, and by the look in Lily's eyes, she felt it too.

He stood and found himself being hugged by Lily again. She also gave him a small kiss on the cheek, which he returned both of.

"Thank you again, for everything."

He smiled at her, still refusing to look at Albus.

"Take care of yourself Lily, and remember, that offer I made earlier concerning Potter is still open if you ever need me to use it."

Lily grinned. "I'll keep it in mind, Sev. You take care of yourself, too."

With a curt nod towards the Headmaster (while still avoiding that know-it-all gaze he knew he had in his eyes) and a smile toward Lily and her son, he walked out the door to head back to the dungeons.

* * *

A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	15. Christmas Surprises

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 15

* * *

September finally rolled around and just like Albus had predicted, the students quickly became terrified of Severus, even with Professor Slughorn in the same room. He did have to admit that Severus commanded the attention of a room just like Minerva did, which was _not_ an easy feat.

Albus also made Severus the head of Slytherin House. This was for many reasons, but he and the potion master both let the rumor go around that it was because he was the only current staff member that had been in that house while he had attended school. It turned out that Voldemort had been pleased with that information, as they both knew he would be.

"He seems to be under the impression that I am going to be persuading the Slytherin's to join his cause." Severus smirked. "I _am_ going to have to be careful how I handle them because there are quite a few of his follower's children here."

Albus agreed with him.

After school began, Severus attended a few Death Eater meetings as well as a few minor raids, but not as many as he used to because Voldemort knew that Dumbledore would dismiss him if he was gone from the castle too much, and so far, Severus had proven to be very useful to the Dark Lord as a spy, as it were. He did not want that to stop.

At random moments, Severus would approach the Dark Lord on his own to let him know what he had 'overheard' or 'discovered' when the information was pertinent.

During those visits he would hang around for a few hours to spy for Dumbledore. When he told the Dark Lord this, he had just laughed his hiss of a laugh and allowed Severus to stay, never sending him away even when the other's requested their master's presence alone. After all, he knew that Severus would never betray him.

During those times, Voldemort would note that Severus merely looked bored or that he would occasionally speak about trivial things with his fellow Death Eaters. Most of the time he simply let Severus lurk in the shadows of the room.

This had many benefits to the Dark Lord. One of which was that it gave him a reason to punish those that failed to be observant. For some, the punishment was worse than other's because he expected better from certain people in his ranks.

Each time he had stayed, if no plans were made to _deceive_ Dumbledore that day, he would ask Severus what he was going to report back to the meddlesome old fool. The answer varied from, "Nothing. You had everyone out on their own tasks and no one reported in," to "I watched as you punished my friends because they had failed to do your bidding to your standards."

Overall, he was quite pleased with Severus for managing to deceive Dumbledore so convincingly. He found that Severus had proved himself to be a better spy than he had first thought possible when he had originally given the task to him.

If Voldemort would have thought about it from his paranoid point of view, he should have realized that it was _he_ that needed to worry about Severus being such a good deceiver.

But debauchery from one of his _most faithful _servants never even entered his mind.

On Christmas morning during breakfast, Severus felt his Mark burn in a way that told him that he was being summoned directly, along with the other members. He assumed that it would just be a meeting, so he glanced at Dumbledore to let him know that he was leaving the castle, who in return nodded.

Severus learned his lesson for assuming that day. It turned out that the Dark Lord wanted to attack several Order member's as well as a few Ministry worker houses at the same time.

He was hoping that he would get sent to the Potter raid, but the Dark Lord had other ideas. Voldemort sent Severus, Bellatrix, Black, and Nott to pay a visit to the Bones' residence. During the battle, he tried his best to save the older couple without drawing suspicion on himself, but four against two is hardly fair. After an hour long fight, Bellatrix had finally managed to hit both people with the Killing Curse.

On the way out of the house, Severus raised his wand in the air and sneered a silent "_Morsmordre_". He watched as a version of the dark mark appeared in the air over the house to indicate that someone had been killed inside. Only members of the Dark Lord's inner circle (as well as a few other 'special' people) knew that incantation and as Bella had already dis-apparated toward her master's hideout, he was the only one left that knew it to send it up in the air.

As soon as he sent the mark up, he also dis-apparated to Voldemort's hideout before the Aurors appeared. Severus then began his role of healer and started tending to everyone's wounds. Since the Dark Lord did not have any true healers in his service, that job normally fell to Severus because he was familiar with potions. Slowly, people began to _pop_ back into the room. He tried not to think of Lily so he concentrated on the task at hand.

Almost two hours later Voldemort, Malfoy, Goyle, and Avery appeared.

As soon as the Dark Lord apparated in, it was quite obvious that he had a minor injury. Bellatrix and Severus rushed to the Dark Lord, crying at the exact same time, "My Lord!" He quickly healed his master (even though he could have healed himself) and then turned to treat the ones that he had come back with. Out of habit, he headed to Lucius first, but Voldemort stopped him.

"No, Severus. Lucius will be healed last. It is his fault that I failed _and_ was injured. He should have known that there would be others there." His eyes fell on Regulus Black. "It seems that your brother is Harry Potter's Godfather."

Regulus knelt before the Dark Lord. "He is no brother of mine, my Lord. You are my family, not him."

Voldemort gave a semblance of a smile but cursed him never the less. He then asked for updates from everyone while Severus continued to make his rounds. A few more straggler's came in and were treated before he was allowed to heal Lucius.

The Dark Lord was pleased that the Bones, a couple of the Prewett's, and the Anton's were killed.

Suddenly, a fallen form apparated to the feet of Voldemort. It was quickly established as Karkaroff, so Severus inquired as to whether he should treat him. The Dark Lord nodded for him to do so.

Karkaroff had been sent with two others to pay a visit to Alastor Moody. He was glad that he _did not_ get sent there. It seemed that the other two were captured by the formidable Auror.

After most everyone else had left, the Dark Lord asked Severus what he was going to tell Dumbledore, seeing as how he had been gone for most of the day and that he, no doubt, knew of the attacks already.

Severus placed a well practiced sneer on his face. "The same thing that I did after the other raids, my Lord. You required me to heal any injured as they returned, but you would not let me participate in any of the raids themselves. Any injuries that I might have, I tell him that _you_ did it because I did not perform my duties fast enough. It tends to make the old man pity me."

After speaking Severus bowed, as he was supposed to, hoping that this response would please the Dark Lord. It turned out that it did, so he was dismissed after he was _allowed_ to kiss the hem of His robes.

After apparating to the gate of Hogwarts, Severus all but ran to the Headmaster's office.

Dumbledore looked grave but was relieved to see him. He had feared that Severus had been killed. Of course, he knew of the multiple attacks and Severus could tell that he felt grief mixed with fury. However, he did nod at Severus' unasked question about Lily's safety.

Severus threw himself into the nearest chair. "I was in the party that was sent to the Bones house. The Dark Mark that went up was mine." He sounded completely defeated. "Bellatrix delivered the final blows. They fought us for over an hour, Albus. You should know they went down like heroes. I did try to foil the attacks, but it obviously did not work. I was half tempted to say screw my cover and just help the couple, but then I realized _that_ was the easy choice."

He looked down at his hands as he tried to reign in his emotions. "There were 6 Death Eater's that were killed and many were injured, including the Dark Lord himself, and unfortunately I had to heal all of them." Severus was truly disgusted with himself and his voice showed it. "From my count, 4 Death Eater's were apprehended?"

Albus nodded.

"The Dark Lord was furious over the fact that Lucius did not count on the presence of Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew."

Albus looked at Severus strangely. "Did he say that Pettigrew was there?"

He raised his eyebrow but shook his head. "No, he just said that there were others there. I assumed that it was all three of them since they are normally inseparable. Why?"

"Because he wasn't there. When I talked to James in the aftermath, I did ask where he was, because as you said, he is usually there. He had told me that Peter was spending Christmas with his mother. It was only Black and Lupin with them this morning."

Severus snorted. "By any chance, do you know which of them cursed the Dark Lord?"

Albus shook his head.

"Well, when you find out, thank them for me, it was an ingenious curse. Sadly, I had to fix it because He was to busy having Bellatrix fawn over him." Severus willed away the urge to vomit.

"Did he say why he attacked so many places at the same time?"

Severus nodded and inwardly winced as he shifted himself in the chair. "He wanted to draw attention away from the fact that the Potter's were his main target. He was hoping that they would get lost in the rush of so many other attacks. The reason he went himself was to test their defenses around the house. He also wanted to see if he could finish the boy off if they were truly unprepared ..." He let his voice trail off.

After a minute, he spoke again. "I'm sorry Albus. I really had no way to alert you before hand. I had been hoping that it was just a meeting. I would never have imagined it would be a massive raid, although, given the Dark Lord's manic thoughts lately, I don't guess I should be completely surprised by this." He let out a sigh. He was still having issues controlling himself.

Albus walked around his desk and sat on the edge of it, facing Severus. "This is not your fault. I'm sure that you did all that you could do. We did lose many good witches and wizards today but they will not be forgotten."

Severus felt his grief overwhelm him. When he had to go on the smaller raids, they always went through this, but it had never affected him so much before.

This was the first time that Albus had ever seen tears well up in Severus' eyes, though they did not fall. This was the first time Severus was ever hugged by his mentor, as if by a father.

He offered Albus his memories, but Albus refused as always, saying that he believed him. However, Severus did insist that he see the part in the Dark Lord's hideout. Albus was amused at Severus's quick thinking to Voldemort's questions.

They talked for a while before Albus sent Severus to Madam Pomfrey. It seemed that he had healed everyone else but himself.

Severus later found out that Lupin was the only injury at the Potter's house that day and his was only a minor one. He still had a hard time believing that someone had actually gotten a curse in on the Dark Lord.

But what frustrated Severus the most was that James 'Bloody' Potter would still not go under the Fidelius Charm. It seemed that the Gryffindor lion in him came out roaring. Lily was also frustrated with James but he would not budge on the issue. According to him, he had just proven that he could defend himself and his family.

There were a few more mass raids before school let out for the summer in which Severus had to attend. (He was not called for most of the minor ones anymore unless someone needed healing in the aftermath.) None, however, were on the Potter's. It seemed that the Dark Lord was luring them into a false sense of security.

A couple of months before term ended, Alastor Moody was fitted with his magical eye. Not very many people knew, at first, that it could see through things, such as doors, but Dumbledore was one of them that did. Therefore he had to be brought up to speed about Severus.

Severus did not mind that Moody was brought in because he figured that he would be a powerful ally if the need should arise, especially since he could sense that his turn was coming to where he would be sent to the Auror's place of residence. The other member's of the inner circle had already had their chances.

Finally the school year ended. The role of spy was beginning to take it's toll on him. Albus had noticed this but Severus never once complained.

* * *

A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	16. Summertime News

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 16

* * *

When Order meetings were held in Dumbledore's office, Severus would listen to them from a neighboring room. Since it wasn't known to everyone that Albus had a spy in the Dark Lord's camp, he had to keep his presence unknown, mostly because both Albus and Severus had figured out that there was a traitor amongst the Order. However, neither of them could figure out who it was as only the Dark Lord knew who each of his follower's were.

In late August, there was another impromptu mass raid. The Potter's were included this time around, and just as Severus had predicted, he was sent along with three others to Moody's house.

Severus prided himself on being an excellent dueler (ironically enough, that was mostly due to Potter during school because of his incessant attacks) but he wasn't stupid enough to think that he could even begin to contend with Moody. Therefore, he was truly glad that Alastor knew which side he was really on, otherwise he would have been in Azkaban faster than he could have blinked.

During the battle, Moody killed one Death Eater, cursed another into unconsciousness and hexed both Severus and Wilkes. (He knew who was who under the masks due to his magical eye.) When Wilkes had his back turned to Severus, Severus sent a stunning spell toward his fellow Death Eater just as he had fired off the Killing Curse at Moody, which thankfully missed.

They had talked for a few minutes about the attack. Severus then obliviated Wilkes mind of what he had done. Alastor added his own mind 'enhancements' as well. Then for good measure, a few more hexes, curses, and jinxes were thrown at Severus as he apparated toward the Dark Lord.

Once he staggered to his feet, he bowed and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robe. It really wasn't unusual for the group that was sent to Moody's residence to not come back, or to only have one person return. Thus, he knew that it would not surprise the Dark Lord that only he returned.

Looking around the room, he saw that he was indeed the last to arrive. He inwardly groaned. That was _not_ a good thing.

"What happened?" Voldemort hissed.

Severus was weakened from all of the spells that were on him but gave the true account of what happened, at least until it came to Wilkes. Then he gave the version that he knew would appear in Alastor's reports. The Dark Lord had always managed to get a copy of the Auror's reports through his ministry contacts.

Just as he started to go heal the injured around the room, he felt one of the Dark Lord's own torture curses hit him. It was not as powerful as the Cruciatus Curse, but just as effective.

After he released Severus from it, he was allowed to heal most everyone but himself. He listened to everyone's conversations as he passed out potions and murmured incantations over certain wounds.

It turned out that Voldemort, himself, did not go hunting. Bella, Lucius, and four others went to the Potter's. They were told that if the chance arose, they were to kidnap the child, otherwise just play with them a bit. Yet again, their two cohorts were there (Pettigrew was visiting his mother in St. Mungo's when the attack happened), but they also found a surprise in the fact that Dumbledore was there as well, which would explain why only Bellatrix and Lucius managed to escape. (It turned out that when Severus was summoned, Dumbledore had decided that he would pay them a visit, just in case.)

The Dark Lord would not let Severus heal any of the raid leaders that had failed, however, none of them were hurt as badly as he was. Before anyone was dismissed, the raid leaders were placed under the Cruciatus Curse multiple times to make a point about failure to everyone else.

"Leave my sight!" Voldemort hissed after he was finished.

Everyone then dis-apparated to their own destinations.

Staggering his way across the castle grounds, Severus found himself grateful that it was still summer and no students were around. Albus and Minerva had seen Severus coming and ran to the entrance hall to meet him there.

As soon as he saw them running toward him, he quit fighting consciousness. He awoke two days later in the hospital wing and groaned. Poppy Pomfrey could be fussy at times which greatly annoyed him. Albus was sitting at his bedside when he sat up. Moody had already told Albus that he had been part of the group that visited him and that he had helped with Wilkes.

Severus explained what had happened and what he had overhead while healing everyone. Albus then updated him on everything that had happened while he was out cold. He also told him that Lily asked if he was alright, as she did every time she had found out about a raid.

Severus groaned. "Please tell me that you did not tell her that I was lying _unconscious_ in the hospital wing?"

Albus nodded. "She wanted to come and see you but I wouldn't allow it. I knew you would be angry with me if I let her see you like this. I will, however, tell her that you are fine now and were asking about her."

Severus nodded. "Thank you, Albus."

Albus then told him the best piece of news he had heard in a while.

James Potter had finally agreed to go under the Fidelius Charm sometime during the month of September.

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A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	17. The Rat

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

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Chapter 17

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Severus was only summoned twice more before school started, but both times were just for meeting purposes.

Once September began, life returned to semi-normalcy for him. After he had gotten the hang of teaching last year, he discovered that he actually liked it. Granted, he liked his personal research more, but it was nice to share his love of potions with everyone else, even if he did put the fear of Merlin's Ghost into every student that walked into his class room.

At the end of September, James, Lily, and Harry visited Dumbledore to let him know that they were ready to go under the charm. Albus distracted James long enough to let Lily and Severus smile and nod at each other discreetly.

Albus had offered to be their secret keeper, but James swore that Sirius would die rather than betray them. What James never told anyone is that he and Sirius had talked privately and had agreed to switch it over to Peter, as no one would ever suspect him. Lily was even kept in the dark until after it was done.

After Albus had set the date and time with the Potters that they were to activate the charm, he and Severus had worked out a plan to deal with Voldemort.

After making sure that everything was on schedule, Severus waited until it was 20 minutes before the charm was to take place. He then sprinted from the castle to where he could apparate.

Severus appeared in Voldemort's throne room huffing, puffing, and clutching his side as if in pain from running a marathon. When he looked up, he realized that he had interrupted _something_ between the Dark Lord and Bella. His stomach clenched in disgust.

"My Lord. I'm sorry for the intrusion," Severus gasped for breath again, "but it is imperative that I speak with you, now."

Voldemort eyed him. As he read Snape's mind, he saw that it was filled with urgency. He quickly sent Bella away.

"My Lord, I cannot stay long. If it is discovered that I am away I'll be in trouble, especially with the news that I bring you. Dumbledore will no doubt know it was me who told you, but ... if I'm at the castle when he searches, I won't be suspected."

The Dark Lord eyed one of his most faithful servants. He had never seen him so ... disheveled before. He wasn't even wearing the proper attire (death eater robes and mask). "Go on."

"I overheard Dumbledore and McGonagall talking. The Potter's are to be placed under the Fidelius Charm tonight, but I am unsure as to which house they will be staying in." (He had previously supplied the Dark Lord with the three houses that the Potter's had owned.)

"WHAT?"

"All I know is that it takes place sometime tonight, at least according to what I overheard in the staff room. I'm sorry I don't know more, My Lord."

Voldemort fumed. "Very well, Severus. Go back to the castle. Find out all you can. I'll summon everyone and we'll hit all three places at once. With any luck, we'll be able to catch them before the charm is active. Oh ... and Severus ... tell no one what you saw when you apparated in."

"I'm afraid I do not know what you're talking about, My Lord. I saw nothing."

Voldemort nodded then dismissed him.

Severus bowed, dis-apparated, and sprinted back toward the castle. _After all, he did not want to be caught out by Dumbledore._

Voldemort was obviously unsuccessful and everybody that had went with him was punished severely. Every two days, around midnight, Severus was summoned to give any information he might have. When there was none, he was placed under multiple curses.

During the middle two weeks in October, no one was summoned. It seemed that the Dark Lord was off doing his own thing. What he was doing was trying to track down each of Potters friends, including his turncoat spy. (He had always been wary of those not in his inner circle.)

It turned out that he need not have bothered looking for anyone. Four days before Halloween, Peter Pettigrew appeared at the Dark Lord's feet.

"My Lord, I beg your forgiveness for not coming sooner, but I have important news."

The Dark Lord tortured Pettigrew for hours before letting him speak. He had thought the rat was a coward. Him returning meant that he was a stupid coward.

"My Lord! Please stop! I beg you! I was being guarded by Black. This was the first time I was able to escape." He huffed and winced from the pain. "_I_ am the Potters secret keeper, my Lord. _I_ can tell you where to find them!"

Voldemort let out the most evil laugh anyone had ever heard. It was chilling right down to the bone. He then turned his wand back on Pettigrew and said, "_Crucio_!"

He let up after a minute. "You know that I have been looking for them for almost a month and here you just happen to _pop up_ and tell me that they let _you_ be their secret keeper? I would have expected Black to be trusted with that information." That is who the Dark Lord had been mainly searching for during the past fortnight.

"It was a ruse. Not even Dumbledore knows of the switch."

Voldemort considered the huddled lump of a man in front of him. After going over the names of the members of the Order that Severus had managed to identify, Peter Pettigrew was by far the one that was most easily corruptible. He knew that _before_ he even met the man. And then, of course, the fact that he was one of Potter's friends from Hogwarts held a great deal of sway over who he chose to bring over to his way of thinking.

In reality, the only reason that he needed him was because Snape had told him that Dumbledore had not let him join the Order of the Phoenix and that he was reduced to listening in at doorways. He wanted someone in the actual meetings in case something was said that Snape could not hear.

Voldemort did not want to risk Marking him in case the meeting's were in held in a warded location so that if anyone had the Dark Mark, they would not be able to enter. Because of this, he had to rely on Pettigrew to just appear twice a month when no one was around to give him updates and other information on the Potter's.

He had proceeded to do so right up until the Potter's went into hiding. And now, here was the person he thought was a traitor offering up his so called 'friends' on a silver platter.

"I have three questions for you, Pettigrew. Lie, just once, and you shall die and I _will_ be able to tell if you are lying."

Peter squeaked but nodded.

"Why did you not inform me of the Potters going into hiding before hand? Why did you not tell me that you were their secret keeper until now? Any why have you not brought me the child if you have access to their house?" With each question, Voldemort's anger rose but his voice grew softer and deadlier.

"I did not know that they were even considering going into hiding, My Lord, until about 5 minutes before they went under the charm. Black and Potter called for me and said they wanted to see me. I was told then. I had no idea before hand."

He winced in pain from the earlier torture.

"As I said before, My Lord, Black was with me the entire time. Today was the first time he left my side. He said he had to make some preparations of his own so that he, too, could vanish. As for the child, it is the same reason. I was never alone with him. I would have been k ... killed before I got out of the house."

"_Crucio_!" Voldemort let the curse up after only 30 seconds. Pettigrew was telling the truth.

"Coward though you may seem, not many would return to me after missing for a month. You are to be Marked for this."

He looked up at his master and bowed the best that he could through the pain.

Taking Pettigrew's left arm, he pulled it toward him and whispered the incantation in parseltongue. He watched with satisfaction while the man whimpered in pain as it burned into his flesh.

"Now, you are to go back to whatever hiding place you have been in, then on Halloween I will summon you back to me. Rest assured, the burning that you will feel in your arm will not stop until you come to me. You are to act as _normal_ as possible, for you anyway. Now go!"

Pettigrew squeaked again as he dis-apparated back to his safe house.

Voldemort sighed. The only reason he did not want to know the address now was because he knew that if he took it, he'd not be able to resist going straight there. As it was, he had plans to make before he killed the boy. He had been looking for a meaningful death to use and, in his mind, there was no death more meaningful than killing the boy that was prophesied to be his downfall.

With a semblance of a smile on His face, he got up to head to his chamber's to retrieve a very special item.

* * *

A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	18. The Breaking of a Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 18

* * *

Three days before Halloween, Severus was summoned. He fire-called Albus to tell him that he was leaving.

He appeared in the Dark Lord's throne room, bowed, and kissed the hem of his robes while waiting to be recognized.

"Stand Severus."

After he stood, he saw Bellatrix in the corner of the room fiddling with something.

"Have you found out anything else about the Potter's?"

"Of sorts, My Lord, but nothing to their whereabouts. I did find myself wondering if Dumbledore was their secret keeper, but after I slipped some Veritaserum into his tea, I discovered that it was not the case."

"He did not realize you did this?" The Dark Lord had an appraising look on his face.

"No, my Lord. He is a very trusting man. As long as I give him no reason to doubt me, it seems that he will remain his ignorant self. Of course, I did make sure not to ask him any direct questions that would make him suspicious about _why_ he felt compelled to give me a direct answer." Severus sneered at his own audacity.

Voldemort hissed his laughter.

"I did, however, discover something else from that conversation, My Lord, that is, if you wish to hear it, of course." He briefly inclined his head into a bow.

"Go on."

"I found out why the Potter's finally decided to go into hiding." From the corner of his eye he saw Bella freeze.

"Really?" The Dark Lord's voice showed a little curiosity, basically confirming that Bella never told him what had truly happened during her visit with the Potter's.

"Yes, My Lord. It seems that Bellatrix was caught and cursed while trying to take the brat out of his playpen. They have no idea why of course, but they knew that if _she _wanted their son, then nothing good could come of it. That's when they decided to go under the Fidelius Charm. They wanted to protect him."

When Severus had been told that by Albus, he had laughed, because instinct told him that it was Lily that had placed that vindictively nasty curse on her. Oh, how he was sorry he had to heal it.

Bellatrix couldn't stand it anymore. She knew that she was going to be punished for not telling the Dark Lord that information, which was the reason she had never told him to begin with. So instead, she did something, which in hindsight, she realized was stupid. She sent a bone crushing curse at Severus, who deflected it lazily with the swish of his wand.

She eyed her master and saw that his eyes were narrowed at her. She then cowed herself into a corner.

"Interesting, Severus. Thank you for telling me."

Severus bowed before the Dark Lord then stood again.

"You have served me very faithfully these past few years, Severus. You have even surprised me at times with just how cruel you can be, especially for your young age. I have very high hopes for you in the future. Therefore, I would like to reward you for your loyalty." He then turned to Bellatrix who was still sulking in the corner and ordered her to leave. She slunk out of the room knowing that she was still going to be punished later.

"This Halloween, for your reward, I will bring you back ... a gift ... as it were. I _know_ that you will be very pleased with it."

"Thank you, My Lord. You are very gracious. I look forward to it, very much." Severus sent thoughts of servitude, gratitude, and loyalty above his shields.

"Now, I am going to have a couple of minor raid groups assembled on Halloween, but you are not to join us until I summon you directly. The old fool will no doubt be pleased if you are not called at dusk because he will then assume that we are behaving ourselves."

The Dark Lord let out a hiss of a chuckle.

"I understand, my Lord."

After a few more minutes of talking, Severus bowed and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes again before being dismissed.

* * *

Once he arrived back in his quarters, he requested Albus to come and see him. After he fixed both of them a glass of elf-made wine, they discussed the meeting.

"What do you suppose this surprise is?"

"I don't know, but I am quite sure that I will _not_ like it. Oh, and your Veritaserum distraction worked. He was so impressed, he forgot to be angry with me." Severus smirked. "And Bellatrix tried to curse me in front of him, idiotic woman."

Albus nodded. "Has Voldemort ever given you any _gifts_ before?"

Severus let out a humorless chuckle after he finished off his drink. "Yeah. It consisted of rare and illegal ingredients. He told me to take those and make him a potion that would keep a person awake and make them relive the worst experience that they had ever had in their life, as well as a few other ... additives. Some gift ... He seemed to be under the impression that I would relish the idea in creating something like that."

"Do you think he is going to do the same this time?"

Severus shook his head. "No. The way he said it was different. If it were not for the fact that I know _from first hand experience_ that Black hates the Dark Arts, I would suspect that he meant Lily, but I know that Black would never turn on them."

Dumbledore nodded with a grimace on his face.

A few minutes later, Albus vanished both of their empty glasses before heading toward the fireplace. "Let's just hope he doesn't have anything horrible planned." With that said, he walked through the green flames back to his office.

* * *

On Halloween night, Severus decided to restock the healing potions for Madam Pomfrey (Quidditch season was about to start) in order to keep himself occupied until he was summoned.

Around 9:30 pm, he felt a sudden tight sensation in his chest. The pain was so intense it took his breath away and brought tears to his eyes. A minute later, he felt his Mark burn in a way that he had never felt before. He actually checked to make sure that it wasn't bleeding.

Normally he would not dare take a pain relieving potion in case the Dark Lord could tell, but he did not have a choice this time. He could hardly see straight between the two intensities, which worried him as he considered himself to have a high tolerance to pain. After downing the potion, the pain eased a little in both places at first, and then slowly the pain in his arm vanished, except for an occasional twinge. However, the pain in his chest was still present. After about 20 more minutes, it was no longer a searing pain, it was still, however, a dull ache.

Once he could think semi-straight again, he was unsure what to do. That was not a direct summons. In fact, it felt like no summons at all. After another 15 minutes had passed, he realized he needed to get to Albus. His gut told him that something was terribly wrong.

Getting up off of the chair he had collapsed into, he headed to the fireplace. As he reached for the floo powder, Albus's head appeared in the fire, requesting his presence.

This did not bode well.

When he entered Albus' office, he saw Madam Pomfrey standing over a crying 15 month old boy that was sitting on the Headmaster's desk. When he saw who that child was, the room began to spin just as the floor fell out from under him. He didn't realize it, but Albus and Minerva both caught him before he hit the ground. They then, carefully, guided him over to a chair near the desk.

"No ..." Severus said quietly.

Albus looked grim. "Severus. Voldemort entered Godric's Hollow tonight ..."

"No!" Severus said slightly louder, his voice rough with emotion. His heart was begging Albus not to say what he knew he was going to.

"Black betrayed them. James and ..."

"NO!" He said in a much louder voice, which caused the toddler to stop crying. He did not want Albus to say it. '_NO! NO! NO!_,' he thought with maddening desperation.

"Lily are dead."

Severus could no longer hold the tears back. He had no idea how long he had cried. It was as if his world had stopped spinning and time stood still. For a long time, or merely only seconds, he was oblivious to everything and anything. He wasn't sure how he was going to live without her. He wanted to die. He _felt_ as if he _were_ dying.

Harry started reaching out toward Severus. He wouldn't hold still. Madam Pomfrey gave up and looked to see where he was trying to go. She was hesitant to give him to the man, mostly for the fact that he had not pulled himself together yet.

Surprisingly, Severus looked up and through his tears and grief, realized that the baby wanted to sit on his lap. It was his last link to Lily. He took the child in his arms and held him close. He had no idea what he was doing but it seemed to work for both of them, for they both calmed down slightly.

"You ... you swore you ... you would protect her ..." Severus whispered.

Albus gave Minerva and Poppy a look that asked them to leave, which they did.

"I tried." Albus sounded defeated as he sat in his chair.

"Now I know why my heart cried out in pain earlier and why it still aches," Severus mumbled. Albus heard him but did not comment on it.

Raising his voice from the mumbling tone, he looked at Albus and asked, "And what of the Dark Lord? My Mark burned like it never had before. Please tell me an Auror or someone else got him, because if not, I'm going to do it myself!" His voice crept back down to a deathly, menacing tone.

Rage was flowing through Severus but it was in check at the moment because of the child that was currently curled up into his chest.

"The Dark Lord is gone but an Auror did not do it."

Severus raised an eyebrow, mostly out of habit.

"Aren't you curious as to why young Harry here is still alive, especially since he was the primary target?"

That seemed like a logical question to Severus, except that he was still having trouble thinking logically, so he just nodded instead.

"You are currently holding the first ever survivor of the Killing Curse."

Severus' eyes flung open in shock.

Harry felt the abrupt emotion change and pulled away from the man that was keeping him warm and looked up at him.

It was then that Severus saw the scar.

"The curse hit Harry then rebounded upon Voldemort."

"How?" His throat was hoarse.

"I have my theories."

He knew that he wouldn't get anything else out of him on the issue, which miffed him slightly.

"Severus, I am going to need your help in protecting Harry when the time comes."

Severus was still staring at the child on his lap with curiosity. '_How could a baby survive the Killing Curse __and__ defeat the Dark Lord?_' he wondered.

"What do you mean?" He finally asked. He was thoroughly confused now. "You said that the Dark Lord was gone. He should be under no more threat." He looked up at the Headmaster.

"Voldemort is not gone for good. You know his desires as well as I do."

Severus thought and then snorted. "It'd be just like him to have found a way to be immortal." He started to call the Dark Lord a bastard but kept it inside his head because of Harry being present.

Albus looked at him like he knew exactly what he was going to say and grimaced. "No one can ever _truly_ be immortal, but there was no body and no ghost. However, there _was_ a dark essence left behind. He is still alive somehow, though he is no longer human." He knew that Dumbledore had his ways of just knowing things so he did not question him.

"So, if the need should ever arise, will you help me protect Harry, Severus?"

As if on cue, Harry looked into Severus' eyes with Lily's emerald gaze and said, "Hug Sev'rus."

The eyes alone was all it would have taken, the words made it more solid. As he hugged the 15 month old, he looked up at Albus and saw that he was both amused and proud of the toddler. If he didn't know better, he would have assumed that Albus had taught him to say that.

"I will do all in my power to protect him," he said, with firm resolution.

Arrangements were made for Harry to go live with Lily's sister. Severus wasn't thrilled with that because he knew that Petunia hated magic, but he also knew that she was the only family that Harry had left, especially since Black was caught before Severus could seek him out.

True to Dumbledore's word, Snape was tried in a quiet trial in November. With the evidence that was presented, he was, indeed, cleared of all charges. A cover story was then formed that would allow him to still remain in contact with the Death Eater's that were managing to weasel out of Azkaban, like Lucius did by claiming to have been under the Imperius Curse.

Severus wasn't thrilled with the idea of keeping in contact with them, but knew that it was necessary, so he planned to do so sparingly.

He was pleased to know that Bellatrix _was_ sent to Azkaban but it came at a high price, for she had already tortured the Longbottom's into insanity.

Slowly, life began to take on a semblance of normalcy in the wizarding world.

Thus began the calm between two devastatingly bad storms.

* * *

A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	19. A HalfGiant's Tale

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 19

* * *

Albus and Severus were having tea in the Headmaster's office when Rubeus Hagrid knocked and entered. Hagrid eyed the room before plopping down on the chair that had been made just for him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small package and handed it to Dumbledore.

"Ah, yes. Thank you Hagrid. So, tell me, how is Harry doing?"

Severus raised an eyebrow, which did not go unnoticed by Albus.

"Our Hogwarts letters were having ... difficulties getting to Mr. Potter, so I sent Hagrid to take it to him. He also took him to Diagon Alley today."

Albus smiled at Hagrid who nodded in confirmation.

"Surely those muggle's that wait on him hand and foot would have taken him." Severus scoffed before taking another sip of his tea.

Hagrid snorted which caused Dumbledore to look up at him in alarm.

"What happened, Hagrid?"

"Well, I foun' Harry in a hut on a rock in the sea. It seemed that the Dursley's thought that they could out run the owls there." Hagrid chuckled at the muggle's idiocy.

"What do you mean _out run_? Surely they were ecstatic that the little prince was coming to Hogwarts?"

Dumbledore groaned. He could tell that Hagrid was getting upset, which was not pleasant to watch.

"I'll have you know, Professor Snape, that Harry is a very quiet and polite boy." His voice softened slightly and had a note of distress in it. "He was sleepin' on the floor in that shack curled up under the rattiest blanket I ever saw!"

Severus huffed in disbelief.

"Er ... Professor Dumbledore sir, there's something else ya should know." Hagrid suddenly looked a little bit shifty but his eyes conveyed feelings of worry. "Remember how ya told me that I might have trouble gettin' to Harry?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"I was surprised ter find out what all he didn' know ..." Hagrid was looking at his feet.

Severus had to admit, he was curious as to what he meant.

"Go on Hagrid. I expected that the Dursley's would withhold a few things from him."

"He didn' even _know_ that he was a wizard, sir, let alone that he were famous in our world! He was told that" ... sniff ... "James and Lily ..." ... sniff ... "were killed in a ..." ... sniff ... "car crash!"

"WHAT?" Severus yelled, visibly upset. "You must be joking."

Hagrid mistook Severus' outrage of Lily being killed in such a muggle fashion for outrage that Harry's past was not revealed to him. Dumbledore, however, did not.

"I had ter tell him somethin' sir because I knew that once we got to Diagon Alley today that he would be surrounded by people gawkin' at him. I had to tell him about You-Know-Who and how his parents were really killed and a lot of other stuff as well." Hagrid sounded forlorn.

"It's alright Hagrid. While I didn't expect him to be kept _that_ far in the dark, you were right in telling him what you did." Albus sat back in his chair, thinking.

Hagrid nodded. He had been afraid of upsetting the Headmaster.

"As soon as we entered the Leaky Cauldron, Professor, he was pounced on. Why, even Professor Quirrell was shaking when he shook his hand." Hagrid stared off as if he was trying to remember what happened.

"He was so excited during the visit ter Diagon Alley. He kept lookin' everywhere." Hagrid chuckled. "I thought his eyes were gonna pop out and then I thought he were gonna drool in Flourish and Blotts."

"Harry likes to read, does he?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes beaming.

"I think so sir. I did have ter stop him from buyin' a book or two that had hexes and jinxes in it. He wanted ter curse his cousin, but I told him that he wasn' allowed ter do magic outside of school. He also wanted ter buy a couple o' extra potion books," Hagrid said slyly while glancing at Professor Snape.

Albus looked amused at the way Hagrid had casually mentioned that.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Potion books? Why on earth would James Potter's son want extra potion books? The other ones you mentioned were more up his alley."

At this, the Headmaster laughed. "Lily was quite gifted in potions, if I remember correctly. Maybe he inherited something from her."

Snape looked at Dumbledore like he was crazy but said nothing.

"I wouldn' let Harry buy much more than what t'was on his list, but I did let him get a few extra things. He er ... seemed like he never had things of his own before. So I let him pick out a nice trunk, book bag, and a few other minor things. I hope that t'was alright sir ..." Hagrid trailed off.

Albus smiled at the half-giant and nodded that it was fine. Severus found his mind wandering while he listened to their conversation.

He finally came out of his little trance in time to hear Hagrid say, "I'm sorry but I didn' mean ter give him a tail but that Vernon insulted you Professor!"

"It's alright Hagrid. I'll check into what can be done about it. Oh, by the way, how's Fluffy?"

Severus let his mind wander again while Dumbledore and Hagrid talked about the gamekeepers monster fixation.

* * *

A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	20. A New Beginning for Harry

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 20

* * *

Eleven year old Harry Potter was currently sitting on his bed at number 4 Privet Drive reading his new school books by moonlight. His snowy white owl, Hedwig, was swooping in and out of his window bringing in her food to eat.

It was a week before he had to catch the Hogwarts Express. Glancing over at the clock, he saw that it read 1 a.m. He got up and put his book into his trunk, locked it, stretched, and climbed back into bed.

Normally, Harry would have already been asleep, but ever since the Dursley's realized that they had not beaten the magic out of him like they had intended , they resorted to locking him in his room all day, which meant no chores for the time being. They let him out twice a day to use the restroom and once a day to eat a cold can of soup or a sandwich, which hardly bothered him anymore as he was used to the lack of food.

Actually, ever since Hagrid had shown up and explained that he was a wizard (which in turn explained quite a few things from his past) Harry was looking forward at what was to come in his life. He couldn't wait to meet other witches and wizards.

It was with that thought, he finally drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Aunt Petunia unlocked his bedroom door early and said that his Uncle Vernon wanted to see him. Harry nervously headed down the stairs.

"Boy, on the first of September, we will take you to King's Cross to catch your _train_." Vernon Dursley sneered at his nephew.

Harry could hardly believe his ears. He had been trying to figure out a way to ask his uncle for a ride. "Thanks Uncle Vernon," Harry said grinning.

"We're not doing it for _you_. That happens to be the only day that our Dudders can have that ruddy tail removed and the train station is on the way. Now, back to the bedroom with you!"

Harry scampered back up the stairs. As he heard the locks on his door click, he went back to his trunk to pick a couple of books to start reading again. Contrary to what everyone _seemed_ to believe about him, he loved to read, even the History of Magic book was interesting.

Today he was reading through his Herbs and Fungi book along side of his potions book. He liked these as much as he liked his charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts books.

Before bed that night, he reached for his seven year journal set for the first time since Hagrid had let him buy it. Harry grinned as he remembered the internal argument that he had with himself when he first saw it in Flourish and Blotts.

* * *

Hagrid had told him that he could look around for a few minutes so he had wandered up and down the aisles looking at everything.

In one of the aisles he saw a box set of books. He stepped closer so that he could read the sign below them.

_Seven Year Journal Set. Perfect for any student about to enter Hogwarts. One book for each year of education._

_Features include: Voice and/or Wand Password Protection, Anti-Eavesdropping Wards, Anti-theft Protection, plus many more features!_

'I wonder if Hagrid would let me buy this,' Harry thought.

'Only girls write in diaries,' another voice inside his head said.

'Yeah, but this says journal,' Harry pointed out.

'It's the same difference,' the voice responded.

'No it's not and besides, it's not like I'm going to write in it everyday and gush about crushes and whatever else girls write about,' Harry reasoned with himself. The other voice never responded so he took it that he had won his argument.

He then took the journal set up to Hagrid who said that he could, indeed, buy it.

* * *

Harry read the parchment telling him everything that the set could do. There were a lot more features than what had been listed on the sign. He was very happy with quite a few of them.

Setting his password, he opened the book with the number 1 on it and wrote for a while until he was so sleepy that he could hardly keep his eyes open.

After he put everything away, he went to bed.

The rest of the week passed by in a rush. Finally, with the help of the red headed family (to get onto the platform), he was seated on the train. During the ride to Hogwarts, he made his first friend. Ronald Weasley.

They talked and laughed. Harry was excited to hear about an all wizard family. For one of the first times in his life, he was having fun.

About halfway there, a girl came in asking if they had seen a toad because someone named Neville had lost one. When she saw who Harry was, she introduced herself as Hermione Granger. She was the first person to tell him that he was in a few books.

"Brilliant," Harry muttered, obviously not pleased.

He looked up to see Ron and Hermione staring at him. "Sorry. It seems that Hagrid forgot to tell me that." He couldn't help but laugh at their confused expressions.

"Before Hagrid told me that I was a wizard, I had no idea. I definitely didn't know I was famous. My aunt and uncle thought that if they hid it from me, my magic would vanish." That wasn't the entire truth, but that was all he felt like sharing.

Before she left, he had her write down the names of the books that he was mentioned in. He would look them up later in the school's library.

They pulled on their robes as the train slowed down. Harry carefully put his wand up his sleeve where Mr. Ollivander had shown him that most adult wizards carry them.

Finally, they all piled off of the train at the Hogsmeade station. The first years followed Hagrid down to the boats. Harry was nervous about the water. He had never learned how to swim and he was afraid that he would fall in. He did, however, feel better when Ron climbed in beside of him. He turned and watched as Hermione and someone who would later be identified as Neville Longbottom climbed in the back part of the same boat.

When Harry first saw the castle, he wasn't sure what he felt. Elation. Nervousness. Excitement. Fear. Joy. Un-believability. He actually pinched himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.

Once inside, they were led into a room by a person that he was sure he would _not_ want to cross. _Ever_. As she explained that they were to wait there while she made sure everything else was ready, Harry felt his stomach clench in nervousness.

He looked at Hermione. He knew that she was intelligent, especially since she had said she had memorized all of their school books. "Hermione, how exactly are we sorted?"

She looked at him with a puzzled expression. "I'm not sure. I didn't see anything mentioned in any of the books I read."

Harry glanced at Ron, his nerves even more shot now. "Do _you_ know? You said that you have five older brothers ..."

Ron shook his head. "Fred said something about wrestling a troll, but I don't think he was serious."

Harry thought he was going to pass out. Just then, a couple of girls screamed. Turning around, he saw why. There were about 10 to 15 ghosts floating through the room talking.

Professor McGonagall finally returned and led them into the Great hall.

Harry was transfixed by the ceiling as he walked behind the other students. It was one of the most amazing things he had ever seen.

When they stopped moving, Harry looked around. He was too excited at the moment to be nervous. He realized everyone was staring at the hat on the stool, so he stared at it too.

He stood perfectly still as he listened to the song while it described each house. Soon, people started to be called to put it on. He watched as Hermione was placed into Gryffindor. She had seemed like she would be someone nice to try to make friends with, even if she was a bit bossy. He chuckled lightly as Ron groaned when the hat had announced where she was going.

When Draco Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin before the hat was fully placed on his head, Harry cringed. He did _not_ want to go into Slytherin. He had already heard of it's reputation of turning out Dark Wizards. Now he had another reason to dislike the house. (He had a run in with Draco on the train that didn't turn out so well.)

Harry was beginning to notice that the hat took longer to decide where some people should go than with others and he began to fidget nervously. What if the hat didn't put him anywhere and just sent him home? His insides felt like they were trying to escape onto the floor.

"Potter, Harry!"

Harry started slightly as he heard his name called.

He slowly walked up to the stool, sat on it, and when the hat was placed on his head, it fell over his eyes and ears, cutting out the noise of the room.

"Hmm. Difficult, very difficult." The hat said into Harry's mind. "You have a lot of courage. There's an incredible mind, and oh yes, plenty of talent and power."

Harry's heart was pounding so loud he figured that everyone in the Hall could hear it.

"You have a huge thirst to prove yourself ... hmm ... that's interesting. It's not very often that I get to choose between all four houses. Normally it's just two, when there's a choice at all. So, where shall I put _you_?"

Harry thought with all of his might, not even realizing that he was gripping the stool with his hands so tight that his knuckles were turning white. "Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin."

"Are you sure? You could be great you know. It's all right here in your mind."

"Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin."

"Why not?" The hat was curious because it obviously saw things that Harry did not, his parseltongue ability for instance (not that Harry was directly aware of that skill yet).

"Because I don't want to be put in a house that bad wizards tend to come from," he thought.

"Not everyone that is in Slytherin becomes a bad wizard. Quite a few good people came from there as well, they just happen to show their cunning and sly side to get what they want."

"Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin."

The hat was very amused. "Slytherin would help you on the path to greatness ..."

"Not Slytherin."

"Oh, if you're sure ..." the hat searched Harry's mind again. It saw that of all four houses that it originally said it could choose from, there were really only two that he would really fit in with, and since he was so adamant about the one ... "Better be - GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted the last word so that everyone could hear it.

Harry felt such an immense amount of relief that he didn't even notice he was getting the loudest cheer of everyone.

They eventually got to "Weasley, Ronald." He only took about ten seconds to be placed into Gryffindor. He came and sat near Harry.

After everyone was seated, Dumbledore told them all to eat (in his own way, of course). Harry watched as the plates in front of him suddenly appeared with food.

He was unsure what to do and became nervous again. After making sure that everyone around him had a plate full of food, he put a little bit on his own plate. He'd never seen so much food at one time, let alone been allowed to eat what he wanted of it.

After dinner vanished, dessert appeared. Harry helped himself to some treacle tart. After he finished eating, he scanned the table where all of the Professor's were sitting.

He thought that Dumbledore was the coolest looking wizard he had ever seen. He saw Professor McGonagall sitting beside of the Headmaster. Percy Weasley (one of the prefects) had told him a few minutes prior that she was the head of Gryffindor house. Two seats down from Dumbledore sat Professor Quirrell in a turban that he had not been wearing in Diagon Alley. It looked odd on him. Quirrell looked like he was trying to get the Professor's attention that was seated in between himself and Dumbledore.

"Percy, who's that teacher that Professor Quirrell is _trying_ to talk to?"

Percy looked up. "That's Professor Snape. He's the Potion Master here." Percy shuddered. "He's the head of Slytherin House and is stricter than McGonagall."

As Harry glanced back up toward Professor Snape, their eyes briefly met and his scar seared in pain for an instant. Out of habit, he closed his eyes when it burned. He saw a jet of green light race toward him (it was part of a dream that he had been having for years now), but then he saw something that he had never seen before. He saw someone hug him. He didn't know who it was though, but he assumed it was his mother or father. By the time that thought had left him, his scar had quit burning.

He chanced another glance at Professor Snape and yet again, their eyes met. This time, however, nothing happened. Snape was the first to look away. Harry watched him for another minute before turning to ask Ron and Hermione which classes they were looking forward to.

The hall soon quieted down as Dumbledore rose to make his speech. They were then ushered toward the 7th floor to where the Portrait of the Fat Lady guarded the Gryffindor common room and dorms.

Harry was tired but he still had quite a bit of energy left because of how excited he was. Before Percy let them go to their dorms, he and the other Gryffindor prefects explained the rules as well as a few other things that they needed to know.

When he finally got to the dorm room itself, he saw that he would be sharing it with the other first year boys that were sorted into Gryffindor: Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Ron Weasley.

Looking around the room, he saw that each bed was a 4 poster canopy bed and that there were red and gold curtains on each one that could be pulled completely shut for privacy. Beside of each bed was a desk and to the right of that was a small wardrobe for their clothes. Near the door was a pitcher of water and 5 cups, one with each of the boys names on it.

For their room to be round (they were in one of the towers) and so full of stuff, there was still quite a lot of space available, especially in the center of the room.

Harry's eyes rested on his trunk at the foot of, what he assumed, was to be his bed. On top of it was his school uniforms. They had the Gryffindor crest on them now, whereas before, they did not. He also saw that he had a couple of other things with the lion symbol on it. It was the same for the other boys as well.

He headed to where his trunk was and started to hang up his uniform in his wardrobe. He watched as each of his roommates did the same. (Percy had told them to unpack tonight.)

As he reached for the wardrobe, he saw a note materialize on the door.

_Mister Harry Potter,_

_When you place your dirty clothes in the basket in the wardrobe, they will vanish instantly. The next day they will appear clean on your bed, ready for you to put away. Have a good school term._

"I love magic," Harry said, grinning. He heard Neville and Ron both laugh at him. (Neville's bed was on Harry's left and Ron's was on his right.)

Harry opened the wardrobe. There was hanging space on the right hand side. On the left there were three drawers (closer inspection showed that they were magically enlarged on the inside) and a rack for his shoes. In the bottom of the wardrobe under the hanging space was indeed a basket for his dirty clothes. On the inside of both wardrobe doors were mirrors.

Harry put his clothes away neatly. He then put his books in an orderly fashion on top of his desk. In one of the desk drawers he placed his ink, quill, and parchments. In another, he placed all of his other school supplies, except his potions kit. He left the third drawer empty for now. His potion kit he put beside of his books on top of his desk. He kept his journal set, as well as a few other minor things, locked inside of his trunk. He placed his book bag on the back of his desk chair. He then put Hedwig's empty cage on one of the shelves above his desk.

After deciding that he was finished unpacking, he changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed to watch the other boys. His little area was by _far_ the neatest (and not in the cool sense either).

Ron noticed this and raised his eyebrow.

"My aunt was a perfectionist. I got into major trouble if anything was out of place, so it sorta got ground into me to be neat, too. Heaven forbid I go back home next summer a slob," Harry grimaced at the thought of his aunt's reactions.

Ron seemed to relax a bit before he hung up a Chudley Cannons poster ... very crooked, which made Harry grin at him (and the inhabitants of the poster to fall over).

"She sounds like my Gran," Neville admitted as he placed Trevor in a box that everyone in the room, except Neville, knew that he would not stay in.

Harry doubted that Neville's grandmother would take a frying pan to his head if he missed a speck of dirt while cleaning.

He resumed watching everyone decorate their living space. About ten minutes later, he burst into a fit of giggles as he watched Ron calmly walk over to Dean's muggle poster of a soccer team and poke it to try to get the occupants of the picture to move.

"Why won't they move?" Ron demanded to know.

"Muggle pictures don't move, Ron. I told you that on the train," Harry said, still laughing.

"I remember, it's just ... mental that they don't."

Dean snorted as Seamus and Neville joined in with laughter of their own.

Harry watched as everyone else finished unpacking. He saw that they all had a lot more than he did. They each had at least 5 sets of uniforms, even Ron, though his were all second hand. He only had 3, one of which he had just removed. They also had a lot more extra stuff as well, like a chess set and gobstones. He felt sadness creep up into his heart as he watched a couple of them put a picture or two of their families out. (After all, more than 2 pictures of their family on the wall in a _boys_ dorm per boy would make them look like a sissy.)

Harry didn't even know what his mom and dad looked like. Granted, Hagrid had said that he looked like his dad, except that he had his mother's eyes, but that still wasn't the same as an actual picture.

He started to pull his curtains shut when Hedwig flew in through the open window.

"Hi girl. I bet your enjoying yourself here. No Uncle Vernon yelling at you," Harry whispered to his owl.

She nipped his finger affectionately.

Harry retrieved an owl treat out of his trunk for her. She took it then flew back out of the window.

"She's a pretty owl," Neville commented.

"Thanks. She was my birthday present." Harry didn't want to admit that she was the only present he had ever gotten.

He took his wand out and set the bed alarm (only he would hear it) the way that one of the prefects had explained. He then let himself sink into unconsciousness - with a smile on his face.

* * *

A/N: These next few chapters will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that, of course, is aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: The journal idea has an impact in future chapters (wink) and I'm assured by my 20 year old brother that as long as it's not called a diary, it's fine. Lol!

A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	21. Severus' Musings

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 21

* * *

Severus Snape was only partially listening in on the staff meeting that was going on around him. He only attended the things because Albus made him. As it was, today was currently the first day of September and the students would be arriving in a couple of hours.

Severus glanced around the room after a while. Only the teacher's that were guarding the Sorcerer's Stone were currently present. Severus was still only half listening, nodding when it seemed appropriate. As it stood, only Albus and himself knew specifically what guarded the stone. The Headmaster had taken each professor down at different times to place their own protection, he had then told Severus what it was. The only thing that Severus didn't know how to get past was Fluffy, and truth be told, he didn't really care to know how to get past it.

'Severus!"

Snape peered around the room. It was now only Albus, Minerva, and himself in the staff room. Albus had an amused expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, Minerva. What did you say?"

She glared at him. "I asked if you could possibly find it in that cold heart of yours to be nicer to the students this year?"

Severus sighed. She asked the same question every year. The answer was always 'no' followed by a smirk or a sneer.

This year it was a smirk.

She rolled her eyes at him.

Severus really did enjoy his life to an extent. He loves his research (he's invented quite a few potions), his small side business (he sometimes sells a few things during the summer months), and he still likes teaching (not that anyone would ever get him to admit it). It's just that ever since Lily had died, there was a gaping hole in his heart and in his life that he couldn't seem to fill.

Through the past ten years he's become quite cranky and down right moody around everyone except Albus and, on occasion, Minerva. Well, he is those around them as well, but they can draw out another side of him on occasion and the only reason those two got to see something different is because they refused to let his mind wallow in what could have been. They had become his equivalent of friends, though if anyone ever dared to use that word, Severus would have hexed them faster than they could have blinked.

Casting a silent '_tempus_', he realized that he only had 20 minutes to get to the Great Hall. He only needed five, but he had been hoping to brood in his quarters for 30 minutes or so.

Sighing, he followed Minerva and Albus instead. That was probably the Headmaster's intentions to begin with.

About 30 minutes later, the 2nd through 7th years entered and sat down. He eyed his Slytherin's as they entered in packs.

Quirrell kept trying to make conversation with Severus but all he had succeeded in doing was giving him a headache.

Thankfully, McGonagall came in soon to make sure everyone was seated before she went to fetch the first years.

As they slowly walked up the hall in between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, Severus saw a familiar shade of platinum blonde hair. He had forgotten Lucius Malfoy's son, Draco, was starting this year.

_How_ he could have forgotten he had no idea. Lucius had reminded him every chance he had gotten. He gave a discreet nod toward him. After all, Severus did have a part to play. He wanted to roll his eyes when he saw that Draco was already flanked by Crabbe and Goyle but refrained from doing so.

Oh, he could not wait to start handing out detentions.

Contrary to popular belief, Severus did _not_ molly coddle his Snakes. He knew what kind of homes that most of them came from, so he gave out detentions involving manual labor as often as he could (he never liked taking points from his own house unless he had to). Yes, he was aware that not all of their home lives were picnics and he did help those that he could, but he babied no one.

He watched as Malfoy was placed in Slytherin before the hat had even settled on his head. He let out a slight groan that only Albus heard, who in turn chuckled.

Just as he thought that the Hufflepuff's were getting a lot of first years, "Potter, Harry" was called.

The first thing he noticed was that the child looked like he was 8 or 9, not 11. He was by _far_ smaller than the other children. Glancing at Albus, he saw concern in the older man's eyes. The _second_ thing he noticed was that he looked like his father.

'_Probably spoilt rotten and attention seeking like his father too,_' Severus thought.

He watched as the hat was placed on his head and how it almost fell down to his neck. He was surprised that it didn't immediately call out Gryffindor.

Severus thought back to his own sorting. The hat had considered him for 3 of the houses, all except Hufflepuff. Once that was decided, it had then asked Severus which house he wanted to be in and the reason behind it. He told the hat that Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad and that his family expected him to go into Slytherin. When it had inquired about Gryffindor, Severus had thought for a moment before saying that he wanted to go there. When it had asked him why, he had said because that was where Lily had went (he had already fallen for her by this time - having known her before school started).

Evidently the hat thought that was a very Slytherin thing to say, so that was where he ended up.

He glanced toward the stool and saw Potter still sitting on it. He looked like he was gripping the edge of the stool very tightly. 'He must be arguing with the hat,' he thought, partially amused.

Severus looked at the Headmaster and saw that he was wearing a thoughtful expression. He knew that the man would definitely be having a chat with the Sorting Hat later that evening about the boy.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"About bloody time," he muttered. He listened as he got quite the applause. '_Yes, attention seeking just like his father,_' Severus thought while taking a sip of gilly-water (the stronger stuff came later).

He then inwardly groaned when he saw that there was _another_ Weasley.

During dinner he kept glancing over at Potter. He couldn't help but be a tad bit curious about the boy. He watched as the students around him had piled their plates with food before only helping himself to a little bit. He sneered because he assumed that the boy was used to gourmet cooking at home and that the school's food wasn't up to his standards. Yet, a very, very, _very_ minuscule part of his brain told him that wasn't true. However, before he could ponder that thought any further, Quirrell had asked him a question about Vampires. He sneered at him. _This_ man was supposed to be the Defense Against the Dark Art's teacher!

During dessert, Quirrell had dropped something onto Snapes' hand, which caused a ferocious glare to be sent toward him. Quirrell then turned his back to Snape to talk to someone else. As Snape looked away from him, he glanced at the Gryffindor table. As soon as his eyes locked with Potter's, he saw his hand fly up toward his scar. He was curious about that but Quirrell had just turned back from Professor Sinastra and asked him another question in which he nodded his answer.

Severus glanced back toward Potter. Their eyes locked, yet again. This time his hand did not fly up to his scar, which made him see Lily's eyes for the first time in a very long time.

Oh, how he missed Lily. Not a day went by that he did not think of her.

He tore himself away from the gaze even though he could still feel the boy's eyes on him. Instead, he met Albus' eyes and saw that they held a curious twinkle. Years ago, when Severus had realized that he could tell the difference between the Headmaster's _twinkles_, he knew that he was lost forever.

As Albus stood to make his end of the first banquet speech, Severus muttered, "Barmy Old Codger," just loud enough to where he could hear it.

After the horrible song, in which the Weasley twins took forever in singing, he headed toward the Slytherin Common Room. Sure, he put the fear of Merlin himself into his charges, but he also made it plain to everyone that he was there if he was needed. He explained the prejudices that the other houses harbored against them and that they were not to rise to the bait.

And unlike the other houses, Severus met once a week with his new charges. He also insisted Madam Pomfrey give each new student a physical the first night. It was one, of his many ways, of knowing who came from abused homes.

After about an hour of talking to his Snakes, he took his first years to the infirmary for their exams. Three hours later, he retired to his private quarters for some wine.

* * *

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far! They encourage me! (Grin)

A/N: This isn't a very long chapter, but the next few should make up for it (whistles innocently).

A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...


	22. Schedules

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 22

* * *

The next morning, Harry woke up before his bed alarm went off. "Force of habit I guess," he muttered (referring to when he had to get up early at the Dursley's) as he grabbed his things to head towards the showers.

The showers were off of the Gryffindor common room, so he plodded in that direction.

"Wow!" Harry looked around the room. The bathroom was almost big enough to put the Dursley's entire house in. (He had used the smaller bathroom upstairs last night.)

After a quick shower, he quickly put his pajamas back on then went upstairs to change into his uniform. He tried for 10 minutes to fix the tie but couldn't. He would have to ask Ron to help him once he had woken up.

He glanced at the clock on his bed and sighed when it only read 4:30 am. He picked up his book bag and placed it on his bed. He liked this bag. It had been one of the more expensive things that Hagrid had let him buy. There was a specific compartment for ink, parchment, quills, books, and another one to put anything else in that he might need to use. It magically expanded to fit the users needs (to an extent of course).

He started to put one of his bottles of ink in it when he noticed the Hogwarts crest and felt himself grin. The Gryffindor part was now enlarged to show what house he was in. His name also appeared in scarlet letters above the crest.

He really loved magic.

After filling his bag with ink, parchment, and quills, he turned to eye his books. He had no idea which ones he would need today.

Then an idea hit.

He glanced around the room and saw that no one was awake yet. Since he had read his books during the month that he had them and if he understood the theory properly, surely he would be able to do a minor spell or two. He'd been itching to try it all summer.

Harry stared at his books and grabbed the standard book of spells (grade 1) from his desk. Now was just the task of deciding which spell he wanted to do. He then realized that it was too dark to read near his bed and he really did not want to wake anyone up.

He peered around the room again and saw that everyone had their curtains drawn to a close so he pointed his wand at the torch on the wall right behind his desk and flicked it upwards slowly until there was a small amount of light glowing just over top of his desk. (Percy had told them how to do that.)

Harry flipped through the book. This had been one of the books he had read in its entirety, but he still did not remember everything that was in it.

'I want to make something that's just for me,' Harry thought suddenly. 'Something I can hang above my bed like everyone else has.'

Slowly he continued to flip through the book. He had no idea what he was looking for. 'Maybe something to make a poster?'

'Nah.' He didn't know what he wanted to put on it.

'Maybe there is spell that can create a picture of his parents.' Harry chuckled slightly. "That's probably 7th year magic if it can be done at all," he muttered to himself out loud.

Towards the back of the book he found a spell to make a calendar. "I bet I'll be considered a nerd ..."

He glanced around the little area that was technically his now. He saw that between his desk and his bed, at eye level on the wall, that there was enough space to attach something that would be considered a small poster without drawing to much attention to itself, which was perfect.

"So a calendar it is," he said quietly.

He quickly pulled out a 12 inch piece of parchment and laid it flat on his desk. He then read the section that explained how to do the spell. He figured making one the magical way had to be easier, faster, and slightly more fun than drawing it out the muggle way - which is how he was used to doing it at his aunt and uncles house.

Pulling his wand out and jabbing it at the paper he muttered softly, "_Caloannus Mensis September_".

He glanced down at the parchment and snorted. It was tiny, not filling up the paper and it _was_ a calendar in the month of September ... of the year 1894.

Harry turned the parchment over then picked up the book again. He was on his third re-read of the section when he spotted his mistake.

Jabbing his wand at the parchment again, he said a little louder, "_Caloannus Mensis September_".

He quickly glanced around the room to make sure he did not wake anyone then glanced down at the parchment again.

This time it was the right month and year, but it was still so small that nothing could be written on it. Harry figured that he would just try again later.

He skimmed through the book again to see if there were any other spells that he could try. He had found a couple more when he started to hear movement around the room. He glanced at the clock and saw that it said 5:45 am.

About 5 minutes later he heard Ron's voice.

"Harry, are you up already?"

"Yeah. I've been up for a while. I think I'm a bit excited."

"Ugh." With a thud, Ron fell back towards his bed.

Harry snickered. He could tell that Ron was not a morning person.

By 6:30, Ron and Harry were ready for breakfast. (Ron had shown him how to fix his tie 5 minutes prior).

"We can come back and get our books after breakfast. That's when we'll get our schedule and I am _not_ carrying anything more than I need to."

Harry nodded in agreement.

As they were exiting the portrait of the Fat Lady, Neville caught up with them. Near the Great Hall, they met up with Peeves again. He proceeded to throw more walking sticks at Neville before zooming away cackling.

Harry was excited. He still felt like he was in a dream and was terrified that he would wake up, which meant his stomach was clenched in nervous fits yet again. He watched as Ron ate a heaped up plate full of food. Harry could only stomach toast.

A couple of seats down, he saw Hermione talking to a very bored and exasperated looking Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown.

Harry then saw McGonagall approaching the table.

"Here are your schedules for this year. You will note that you have quite a few free periods. Those times _will not_ be used to explore the castle. There will be other classes in session and if any of them are disturbed, the consequences will be _severe_."

Harry gulped as he took his schedule from the Professor.

"Now, during those times in which you do have a free period, you may go to the library, your common room, or to a study hall. These study halls will be over saw by a different Professor, depending on the hour and day. There may also be other years there as well if their free period falls during the same time as yours."

Harry really had not even looked at his schedule yet. He was listening intently to what McGonagall was saying. He did not want to get into trouble.

"The first time you enter the study hall, you will receive rules. The same goes for the library. Madam Pince will explain what she needs to once your there. Now, for this week, _some_ teachers will look over the fact if you happen to be a few minutes late for class since you are probably going to get lost."

Harry felt his toast start to churn in his stomach.

"You all met Sir Nicholas at the feast last night. He is normally happy to point young Gryffindor's in the right direction, so if you are lost and should you see him, he will be glad to assist you. Also, do not be afraid to ask any teachers for directions as well. If you have any questions, you may find me during my office hours. You have 30 minutes before you are due in your first class, so I would suggest moving soon."

Harry watched as she moved up the table towards the second years.

While Ron finished eating Harry glanced down at the schedule in his hand.

* * *

Time.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.Monday.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.Tuesday.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.Wednesday.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.Thursday.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.Friday

6:00 - 7:45 am..xx.Breakfast ..xx..xx..xx.Breakfast ..xx..xx..xx..x.Breakfast .xx..xx...xx..xx.. Breakfast ..xx..xx..xx..xx.Breakfast

8:00 - 9:00 am..xx.Charms ..xx..xx..xx... Herbology ..xx..xx..xx... Free Period ..xx..xx..xx... History of Magic ..xx..xx... Potions

9:00 - 9:15 am..xx.Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx.Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..x. Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx.. Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx.. Break

9:15 - 10:15 am..x.Herbology ..xx..xx..x. DADA ..xx..xx..xx..xx..x. Herbology ..xx..xx..xx..x. History of Magic ..xx..xx... Potions

10:15-10:30 am..x.Break ..xx..xx..xx..x.Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..x. Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx.. Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx.. Break

10:30-11:30 am..x.Free Period ..xx..xx...Free Period ..xx..xx..xx..Transfiguration ..xx..xx... Charms ..xx..xx..xx..xx... Transfiguration

11:30-12:45 pm..x.Lunch ..xx..xx..xx..x. Lunch ..xx..xx..xx..xx..x. Lunch ..xx..xx..xx..xx..x... Lunch ..xx..xx..xx..xx..x.. Lunch

1:00 - 2:00 pm..xx.Transfiguration ..xx...Charms ..xx..xx..xx..xx.. DADA ..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx..Free Period (flying) ..xx... Free Period

2:00 - 2:15 pm..xx.Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx.Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..x. Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx.. Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx.. Break

2:15 - 3:15 pm..xx.DADA ..xx..xx..xx..xx..History of Magic ..xx..xx.Free Period ..xx..xx..xx...Free Period ..xx..xx..xx..x.Free Period

3:15 - 3:30 pm..xx.Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx.Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..x. Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx.. Break ..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx.. Break

3:30 - 4:30 pm..xx.Free Period ..xx..xx...Free Period ..xx..xx..xx...Free Period ..xx..xx..xx..Free Period ..xx..xx..xx..x.Free Period

5:00 - 7:00 pm..xx.Dinner ..xx..xx..xx..x.Dinner ..xx..xx..xx..xx..x.Dinner ..xx..xx..xx..xx..x. Dinner ..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx. Dinner

11 pm - 1am ..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx..xx...Astronomy

* * *

While eyeing his schedule Harry said, "Let's go get our things."

As they walked back up to their dorms, Hermione had caught up with them. "I'm so excited but I _am_ disappointed by all of the free periods that we have this year. I was hoping it would be all classes. I asked Percy about it and he said that they tend to go easy on the first years. I hope that we learn loads today."

By the time they crawled through the hole behind the Fat Lady, Ron was looking at Hermione like she was nuts. Even Harry was staring at her like she had lost her mind.

He was all for learning everything that he could but he also wanted a life, free time to do other things. From the sound of it, she had thought that the idea of free time was scandalous.

* * *

A/N: If you're wondering why I chose a calendar of all things for Harry to make, especially with him being a boy, in most of the books, Harry makes one the muggle way before returning to school to count down the days. Now he's made one the magical way.

A/N: Warning, Harry will be powerful, but he won't be super powerful. He will still have to struggle with certain things as well as deal with other childhood issues. Harry is going to be incredibly smart, but don't worry about him out-doing Hermione ... to an extent anyway. (Evil smirk) And to alleviate some fears, he won't all of a sudden wake up and realize woah, I can take on the world! It will be a slow on going process. (Smile)

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Some of what's written in the Sorcerer's Stone will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)

A/N: Sorry for the format of the schedule. I had to get around the table issue that fanfiction has.


	23. Harry's First Week

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 23

* * *

The first day of classes were exciting and boring at the same time. During roll call most every teacher paused when they had got to Harry's name. Professor Flitwick even toppled off of his desk after he gave an excited squeak.

That had made Harry groan, which caused Ron to grin at him.

Since it was technically the first class for each subject, the teachers lectured them for about 20 - 30 minutes on the rules and expectations that they each had. The rest of the class time had been spent just taking notes.

McGonagall had been the only teacher to not stop on Harry's name that day. He also confirmed his suspicions about never wanting to cross her. She was very strict. He was in awe along with the rest of the class when she had transfigured her desk into a pig and back. Harry realized, of course, that it would be a long time before he would be able to do that, but it was still cool to see.

By the end of the day, only Quirrell had assigned any homework, and it was just reading.

"Let's head to the library Ron," Harry said after they deposited their books during the last free period of the day.

"Please tell me that you are _not_ a bookworm."

Harry grimaced. "Hardly. I just want to look around and maybe look at those books that I'm supposed to be mentioned in."

Ron still didn't look convinced.

"I bet they have books on Quidditch ..." Harry grinned as he watched Ron's face light up. He knew that that would get him.

As soon as they entered the library, they were pounced upon by Madam Pince. She explained the rules and how the library worked. Harry was inwardly pleased to know that the first year curfew was extended to 10 pm as long as they had a pass from the librarian that showed the times that they entered and left. (Normal curfew was 8:30 pm for the first years.)

As Harry looked around the library, he felt his heart skip a beat. There were thousands and thousands of books here. After 10 minutes or so, he found the books Hermione had told him about. He then sauntered over to the charm section. He wanted to see if there were any more charms that had to do with calendars.

"Probably not," he muttered as he picked up a few books to scan their contents. Harry figured that he was probably the only one in the world who wanted to make a calendar just to have something to hang on the wall.

However, he was surprised when he found several books that mentioned the charm and ways to improve it.

He pondered for a minute about what to do. He didn't want anyone to see him carrying an armload of books. He decided that he would come back when he could and look through them, so he wandered off to go find Ron.

After he checked out the books that he was named in and Ron checked out a couple of Quidditch books, they headed towards the common room.

Once there, Ron introduced Harry to wizards chess. Like most everything else Ron owned, his chess set was ancient. However, in this case, ancient was a good thing. The pieces were, in a fashion, alive, moved, gave advice, and argued. It was indeed an unbelievable thing to watch. In fact, Harry lost to Ron in 10 minutes.

After Ron put his chess set away, they went to dinner. During dinner, they laughed and talked about classes and even Quidditch.

Harry had finished eating long before Ron did.

"I'm finished now," Ron said finally. "Let's go back to the common room. I want to look at the books I got from the library."

Harry nodded. He had only ate half of his plate but he was quite full.

As they made their way back to the common room, Harry's scar twinged a bit but not too badly. He glanced around but didn't see anyone lurking about.

While Ron read 'History of the Chudley Cannons', Harry actually read the assigned reading that Quirrell had given them, even though his defense books had been one of the ones that he had read over the summer in it's entirety.

Ron never even noticed.

Around 8:30, snacks popped into existence on a couple of tables through out the room, which scared him almost as badly as the owls that flew in that morning at breakfast had. Once he got his heart out of his throat, he drank some pumpkin juice.

"Ron, I'm going to bed."

"But it's early."

"Yes, but I woke up 2 hours before you did."

Ron laughed. "That you did. Night Harry."

"Night."

After Harry changed, he pointed his wand at the curtains around his bed and made them close.

* * *

_...A green light rushing towards him while a man with red eyes laughed ..._

Harry struggled awake and reached for his glasses through his curtains. After slowing his breathing down, he realized that he was drenched in sweat and tangled in his sheets. Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was 3:35 am.

He thought about going back to sleep, but he knew that it would be pointless. After one of _those_ nightmares he never could return to sleep.

Slowly getting out of his bed, he glanced around the room to make sure that he didn't wake anyone. Satisfied that he did not, and that everyone's curtains were closed, he made the torch above his desk slightly brighter before reaching for his shower supplies.

Once he was showered and dressed, he glanced at his schedule and put what books he needed into his bag along with the appropriate supplies. He then picked it up and headed towards the common room.

Throwing himself into one of the more cushy armchairs, Harry grabbed his book of spells from his bag and started to read through it. By the time he saw Ron stumble down the stairs with his eyes half closed, he had not only found the answer to his library book problem but he also found an answer to his maneuvering in the dark problem. However, as there were now people around, he did not want anyone to see him mess up or not even be able to perform the spells.

He put his book away and waited for Ron to finish getting ready. Finally by 7:00 am, they were trudging along to breakfast.

Tuesday passed much the same as Monday did. They only had one new class today and Harry got a shock when he saw the teacher enter the room through the blackboard. However, he soon realized that no matter how interesting the book may have been, Professor Binns only had one tone of voice. By the end of class only Hermione had managed to stay awake.

After dinner Harry and Ron played chess again. He was not very good, but Ron humored him. Just as they were about to start a second game, a shadow fell across the board.

"Don't you think you two should be doing the homework that Professor Binns gave us?" asked Hermione.

"First off we don't have history of magic again until Thursday and secondly, who do you think you are? Our mother?" asked Ron while glaring at her.

"Hmph! I just thought that you would want to do well in your studies." With that said, she stormed off.

"Mental that one ..." Ron muttered as he directed his pawn to go somewhere.

Harry nodded in agreement.

* * *

The next morning, Harry sat up tangled in his sheets and sweating again. He glanced at the clock. It read 5 am. He groaned. At least it was later than the past two mornings.

He was up, showered, and dressed before Ron even made it out of his bed.

At one point, the dorm was empty so he pulled his spell book from his bag and opened it to the spell that would more or less turn his wand into a flashlight.

He read the section about how to turn it on and off twice before he started to try it. It was only in chapter 4, so he hoped that he wouldn't have too much trouble with it.

Picking his wand up, he gave it a quick flick in the air at the same time that he said, "_Lumos_".

His wand flickered. "Hmm ... Maybe I'm not concentrating hard enough," he mumbled to himself.

"_Lumos_." This time it worked. He grinned. He then said, "_Nox_" as he flicked his wand again and watched as it worked on the first try.

During breakfast, people were still out right staring at him. Harry was now to the point of ignoring almost everyone but Ron and his dorm mates.

Wednesday passed much the same way. The only new class was at 11pm, but before that time arrived, McGonagall had given them homework. Harry wanted to do the work in study hall as he knew that he would be too distracted in the common room to do it there. After begging, Ron came with him.

However, as soon as they got to the door and saw who the proctor was, Ron wanted to leave.

It was Professor Snape.

By this time, they had already heard the horror stories about him by the older students. During the opening feast Harry had gotten the impression that Snape didn't like him very much, but he wasn't afraid of the man.

Harry grabbed Ron and dragged him in the room. A set of rules appeared in front of them. They took them then sat down at one of the tables. After reading them over, they fished for their transfiguration books, notes, and other supplies. McGonagall had given them a 12 inch essay that was due on Friday.

They worked in silence for about 20 minutes. It was then that Harry glanced up. Snape was prowling the room silently. When he glanced in the direction of where he and Ron were sitting, Harry let his eyes drop back to his book.

Ten minutes later, Harry became very frustrated. He pulled his tape measure out. He only had 4 inches wrote so far, yet it looked like Ron had at least 8 or 9 already. He placed his head in his hands hoping, that it would help him clear his mind. He was having issues understanding the material.

It was then that he felt a shadow look over his shoulder briefly before moving on. He knew that it was Professor Snape but it still startled him slightly. At least he didn't jump.

By the end of the period, Ron had finished and was reading - or pretending to read (Harry noticed that his eyes were unfocused and unmoving) the chapter assigned by Binns. Meanwhile, Harry only had 6 inches finished on his essay.

In the hall, Harry audibly sighed.

"What's wrong Harry?" Ron asked as they headed towards the tower.

"I still need to finish the essay and I _wish_," Harry gritted his teeth as he sent a glare to a bunch of Ravenclaws that were gawking at him, "that everyone would stop staring at me. It's bloody annoying."

Ron chuckled. "Sorry mate. It comes with the title of the boy who lived."

Harry groaned and cuffed Ron upside the head just because he could.

"Listen, if you want, you can just copy my essay."

"Nah. Thanks though. If I don't do it, there's no way I'll be able to transfigure whatever she wants us to on Friday. It's actually one of the hardest classes for me so far."

Ron nodded.

At 10:30 pm, the first years gathered their astronomy things and went to the portrait hole. McGonagall then took them to the tower where they would be studying.

Harry found astronomy interesting and confusing. At 1 am, Sir Nicholas escorted them back to the common room.

* * *

The next morning, Harry slept until his alarm went off. Over half of the first years were asleep during Double History of Magic. Well Hermione wasn't. Binns however didn't notice, but he did assign homework.

During charms Professor Flitwick assured them that they would get used to the routine. They spent the rest of the class taking notes.

At the end of the period he wanted to ask Flitwick something so he had Ron wait in the hall for him.

After Hermione left (she always stayed after to talk with the teachers), Harry approached his professor.

"Er ... excuse me Professor Flitwick. I ... uh ... have a question if you have a minute."

"Of course Mr. Potter. What can I do for you?" Flitwick sat down on top of the cushions that were in his chair.

"I was wondering if some spells became easier if you practiced them a certain amount of times or if you always have to concentrate really hard to make them work?" Harry asked his questions almost sheepishly. He was still having issues getting his lumos spell on the first try and he was afraid that Flitwick might not help him since they had not covered that spell in class yet.

"Were you asking about a spell in particular?"

"Yes sir." Harry sighed. "I've been having trouble getting my wand to light on the first try when I flick it (he flicked it) and say '_Lumos_' ..." He trailed off. His wand had lit.

"I think you may have just found your answer." Flitwick said excitedly.

"Er ... _Nox_." The light went out when he flicked his wand again. "How did I do that? Normally I have to be concentrating really hard and even then it takes me 2 or 3 tries to get it to light." Harry felt himself blush. It was probably a stupid question.

"Any time a spell is performed, no matter what type of spell it is, it requires concentration. However, there is such a thing as concentrating to much. Nerves also play a part in how effective the spell can be. As you go through your education, you will find a balance that is needed between your concentration, focus, and power, as well as factor in any other mitigating circumstances that will arise. Do you understand?'

Harry nodded. "I think so sir. Thank you very much."

Flitwick smiled at him as he went to join Ron.

After lunch, since they technically didn't have anymore classes that day, they crashed.

Harry woke up around 1:30. Everyone in his dorm was snoring which made him roll his eyes.

He grabbed his things for transfiguration, herbology, and astronomy and headed off towards the library to study. Before he left though, he scrawled a note to Ron telling him where he was on the chanced he woke up before he returned.

In the library, he found a small secluded area. He put his stuff down then went to retrieve those charm books that he had found earlier that week.

After scouring through them, he had found the spells that he wanted to copy. He then opened up his own book of spells to find the spell that allowed him to copy an entire page. It was towards the back of the book, so he figured that it would be harder to perform.

He laid a blank piece of parchment next to the page in the book he was going to copy. He relaxed himself then laid his wand on the page in the book. He tapped it once, said "_Pagina Simulo_", then tapped the blank piece of parchment once.

His eyes lit up when he saw that it had worked. He proceeded to copy all of the pages out of the charm books he needed for his calendar side project. It took him about 10 - 15 minutes to copy what he thought he needed.

After he returned those books, he placed what he had copied into a separate folder then pulled out his transfiguration things in hopes that since he was in a better mood, it would help him understand the material better.

He was wrong.

By 3:00, Harry was ready to pull his hair out. He had 10 inches written now, which was better than before. He then re-read the chapter for like the millionth time as well as re-read the notes he had taken in class in hopes that maybe something would finally click.

It was 3:30 before he had finished. He had a feeling that whatever he was supposed to transfigure the next day wouldn't be pretty.

Sighing, he pulled out his herbology stuff. This subject was slightly easier for him.

It was only a 10 inch essay about comparing and contrasting the different types of fertilizers used while planting and caring for Midnight Bulbs. By 4:30 he had finished with it.

As he packed his things up, he was hoping that Ron was awake now because he was hungry. He found Ron in the common room playing exploding snap with his brothers, Fred and George.

"There you are Harry! I was about to come make sure that you hadn't fallen asleep in the library. It's time for dinner."

"Let me take my bag up then we can go."

After dinner Harry played exploding snap as well as chess with Ron until around 10 pm. He could no longer keep his eyes open. Even Ron was tired and _he_ had a huge nap earlier.

* * *

_The laugh was sinister. The red eyes glared down at him before sending the green light towards him._

Harry jerked awake and groaned. He almost screamed when he saw Scabbers (Ron's pet rat) staring at him beside of his pillow.

"Scabbers, you should be in Ron's bed!" Harry whispered as he scooted the rat to the foot of his bed.

He sighed when he saw the clock said 3:43. He tried to go back to sleep, but it was useless.

Picking up his wand, he muttered, "_Lumos"_. He got down and unlocked his trunk and pulled out his first year journal. Unlocking it with the password, he grabbed a quill and some ink and settled back down into his bed.

He wrote until it was almost 5 am. He wrote all about his first week, everybody that he'd met, how it annoyed him that everyone gawked at him, and he wrote about his dream. He hoped that if he wrote about the dream that maybe he would stop having it - at least for a while.

After he put everything away, he packed his bag with everything he would need before heading towards the showers.

Double potions was his first class. He was both looking forward to and dreading this class at the same time. And to make matters worse, it was with the Slytherins.

Once inside the classroom, there were 4 students to a table. At Harry's table, Ron Neville, and Seamus were seated.

Nobody commanded a presence like Severus Snape. He strode in, took roll, then spoke in a near silent speech that _everyone_ caught every word of.

"... if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Harry saw Hermione sit up even straighter than she already was. He wasn't entirely sure how that was possible.

"Potter!"

Harry started.

"What would I get if I added powered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry thought he had read a potion with those ingredients in his book but couldn't remember off the top of his head. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hermione's hand shoot up.

"I don't know sir."

"Let's try again Potter. Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Harry knew what a bezoar was but had no idea where he would find one, so he replied, "I don't know sir".

He saw Hermione almost standing with her hand in the air.

Snape looked like he was pondering him for a minute. "What is the difference, Potter, between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"

"Their the same plant sir." Harry said without even thinking about it. He saw a flicker of ... something ... flashed through Snapes eyes, but it was only there for the tiniest part of a second. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Hermione look slightly upset but she still had her hand up.

"Are there any other names for it Potter?"

Harry immediately thought of aconite but saw that Hermione was now standing with her hand in the air and was glaring at him. So he just shook his head no.

"You don't know?" Snape sneered at him.

"No sir."

"Clearly ... fame isn't everything," smirked Snape.

"Clearly, Hermione knows the answer, ask her," said Harry without even realizing it until it was too late.

The room went very silent. (The Slytherin's had been snickering up until that point.)

"Put your hand down you silly girl!"

By the end of the lesson, he had lost two points from Gryffindor, despite brewing the potion correctly. On the way to transfiguration, he tried to figure out _why_ Snape hated him so much.

However, transfiguration distracted Harry from his musings. After they handed in their homework, they were to transfigure a toothpick into a needle.

By the end of class, only Hermione had managed the actual assignment, on the first try even. Harry ended up with a silver toothpick. Ron's was half a tooth pick half a needle. Seamus blew his toothpick up. Dean's didn't do anything and somehow Neville had managed to turn his own hair pink.

Overall it was an amusing class.

After lunch, Harry and Ron went to visit Hagrid.

"Now Harry, I'm sure that Professor Snape doesn' hate ya."

Harry had noticed that Hagrid never quite met his eyes when he had said that but didn't get to ponder it very long because he saw a copy of the Daily Prophet.

He read the article about the Gringott's break in and about a million questions popped into his head, all of which Hagrid refused to answer.

He and Ron stayed up until 11 that night playing chess. Harry was getting slightly better, but he was still crappy. It didn't help that the chess pieces kept giving him bad advice.

* * *

Saturday morning found Harry sitting at his desk doing his history of magic homework. By the time he was finished, it was 10am and Ron was still asleep. Everyone else had already woke up and went down to breakfast. He started to go with Neville but knew that Ron would kill him if he went to eat without him. Sighing he pulled out his Defense homework and got started on it. He only had 2 more inches to write when he heard Ron stir.

"Good afternoon sleepy head," Harry said smirking.

"Afternoon?"

"Yup! It's almost lunch time."

"That would explain the hunger," Ron muttered into his pillow.

While he went to shower to officially wake up, Harry finished his Defense work.

Since Harry had missed breakfast, he was famished.

After lunch they played a round of exploding snap with the twins.

"Aren't you two _ever_ going to do your homework?"

Ron glared up at Hermione. "It's Saturday and like I said before, you shouldn't care if we do it or not."

She stomped off again.

They lounged around all day. Harry and Ron had quite the laugh when the twin's stole Percy's Prefect Badge and he had to chase them around the room for it.

It was around 9 pm when Ron decided that they should start their homework. While Ron worked on his herbology stuff, Harry began his astronomy work.

It involved a lot of drawings and 18 inches of parchment on the movement of Mars and Mercury.

By the time Harry was finished with it, Ron had completed 3 other assignments.

* * *

Harry woke up at 3 am on Sunday from his nightmare again. It was getting old.

After making sure that everyone had their curtains closed, he sat at his desk and started working on his potions essay. He was aware that it was a week before it was due but he figured that he should at least get started on it.

Around 5:30, he took a shower and threw on his robes. On weekends they could dress casually but Harry preferred his robes to his cousins old things.

By 6 am, he was headed out the portrait to the library. He met Sir Nicholas along the way and they chatted until he reached the doors.

He nodded to Madam Pince then went to his little corner in the back.

While he was working on his potions essay, he felt as if he was being watched. He looked up and saw Professor Snape.

"Good morning Professor," said Harry.

"Morning Potter. Why are you up this early?"

Harry smiled. "I'm always up early. I thought I'd get a head start on your homework, sir."

"Already? Where is your sidekick?" Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Sidekick? If you mean Ron, he's my friend, not my sidekick, and I imagine that he's still asleep."

"Indeed. Have a good day, Potter."

"You too, Professor."

Harry watched as he walked away. The man seemed to be different outside of class. Naturally, there was no one around to see Snape being somewhat nice. No one would ever believe him. Chuckling he went back to his essay.

By 7:30, he was finished with his potions essay. He sat it to the side. With the exception of practicing his transfiguration, he was caught up on his homework. The only reason he didn't want to practice here was because he figured that he would get into trouble for yelling at a toothpick.

So, he reached for his notes that he had copied from the charms books, his book of spells, and an 18 inch blank piece of parchment.

First, Harry performed the original calendar spell. Then he performed the spell that allowed him enlarge it to fit the boundaries of the paper. Scowling, he muttered, _"Finite."_(He had found that spell earlier that week.) After the parchment rid itself of both spells he started over. This time he got both of them right.

He then performed a charm on the calendar that let him change the months on it. Satisfied with that he rifled through his notes and found the spell that made the calendar remember anything that he wrote on it, even after changing between months, unless he erased it.

Grinning, he reached for the spell that would allow him to write with his wand. He had read that the magical calendar could not be written on by a quill, that it had to be done magically (which made sense). He read the spell over a few times. The theory behind it was complicated. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that this was way beyond his first year, but he wanted to try it.

According to the notes he had, there were different wand movements depending on what a person was trying to write on. He paid close attention to the part about writing in a small contained spot on parchment. That sounded the most like what he was trying to do.

Pointing his wand over the coming Monday's date, he said, "_ascribo Herbology essay due_." He tapped the square 3 times and was pleased to see the words appear in the box.

He quickly changed the month to November and back again and saw that the writing stayed. Using another spell, he erased what he had wrote, then placed it back.

It worked! Harry was beaming. He was quite proud of himself. He finally had something to hang up.

He glanced down at his watch and saw that it was almost 9:00. He looked up and saw a cat watching him. It was actually staring at him intently. It kind of spooked him a little bit.

He leaned over and whispered to it and he scratched behind it's ears, "I don't think Madam Pince would let you in here. You better leave before she see's you." He shooed the cat away gently. (What he didn't realize was that was Professor McGonagall. She never showed the students her form until their 3rd year so she knew that he had no idea who it was.)

As he packed everything up, he wondered if Ron was up yet. He was hungry.

In his dorm, he realized that Ron was not awake which annoyed him. He unpacked his bag and proceeded to update his calendar with the assignments that were due. He also placed the day that he knew he was going to have a test in Herbology on there. He then put the calendar in its designated spot on the wall.

While he waited on lazy bones to wake, he wrote in his journal.

At 11:15, he put it away and poked Ron to wake him up.

"I'm hungry. It's lunchtime. Up!"

Ron muttered something incomprehensible as he headed off towards the showers.

As they ate lunch and talked a little bit, Harry looked around and realized that for the first time in a long time, he felt like he really belonged somewhere.

It really was an incredible feeling.

* * *

A/N: I'm sure that if you read all of that, you're probably wondering if every chapter is going to be like that. They won't be. I just wanted to let you see the first week from Harry's point of view.

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far! They encourage me! (Grin)

A/N: If you're wondering why I chose a calendar of all things for Harry to make, especially with him being a boy, in most of the books, Harry makes one the muggle way before returning to school to count down the days. Now he's made one the magical way.

A/N: Warning, Harry will be powerful, but he won't be super powerful. He will still have to struggle with certain things as well as deal with other childhood issues. Harry is going to be incredibly smart, but don't worry about him out-doing Hermione ... to an extent anyway. (Evil smirk) And to alleviate some fears, he won't all of a sudden wake up and realize woah, I can take on the world! It will be a slow on going process. (Smile)

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Some of what's written in the Sorcerer's Stone will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)

A/N: Sorry for the long time in between updates. I got so concerned with actually writing the chapters, I keep forgetting that I need to type them and post them. So the next couple of days is going to be spent typing up the chapters that I already have written (which is quite a few). Hopefully after I do that, I'll be able to post the next chapter soon afterwards! )


	24. Severus' Observations

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 24

* * *

After dressing, Severus headed off towards the Great Hall, black robes billowing around him. During breakfast, he kept a close eye on his Slytherin's. The older students looked bored. The younger ones looked apprehensive, except Malfoy. He simply looked smug.

As he scanned the room, he saw Potter eating toast. He looked like he was a nervous wreck. He snickered, 'courage indeed', he thought.

After he finished eating, he went to the Slytherin table and pulled schedules out of his robes.

Later that day, Severus was rubbing his temples. It had been a long day. Not everyone had turned in their summer homework, much to _their_ displeasure. However, it seemed like every one of his students had let all of their prior knowledge go out of the window.

"I really hope this isn't an indication of how this year is going to go," he found himself muttering.

After dinner, he retired to his private chambers to begin marking papers.

* * *

Tuesday had not been much better.

"You are _all_ in your final year of studies, _supposed_ to be the smartest in your year in potions by maintaining your "O" grade level. So tell me _why_ can you _not_ even brew Essence of Dittany? That is a 5th year potion!"

He glared around the room. Since this was a N.E.W.T. class and their were so few students, all 4 houses were represented ... barely.

"Homework, due by next class, 3 feet on today's potion, all aspects of it, and why you all so obviously messed up. Then I want another foot on the properties of acromantula venoms. Dismissed."

It was still 10 minutes before the bell, but he knew that if they didn't leave soon, he was really going to lose his temper.

During dinner, Quirrell tried to make conversation again, but Snape just sneered at him.

"Bad day Severus?"

"This is indeed going to be a long year, Headmaster."

Albus chuckled at him.

* * *

Wednesday reminded Severus of why he needed to pay attention during staff meetings. It seemed that those 'appropriate nods' he occasionally gave indicated that he would proctor 2 different study halls during the week as well as do an extra patrol of the corridors 3 times a week at night.

His first study hall brought him into contact with the boy who lived for the first time.

'Oh, I can't wait for him to disrupt the hall. I'll bring him down from his high horses,' thought Severus.

As he prowled the room, he kept an eye on the brat secretly. His years as a spy had given him many ways to watch someone without even looking at them.

Snape watched as he and the Weasley boy would whisper occasionally, but they honestly appeared to be working. At one point he noticed that Potter was pulling out his hair. He made his way slowly to that side of the room and peered over the boys shoulder.

He could tell that the boy knew he was there even though he didn't give any outward sign. It seemed that he was trying to do his transfiguration homework. He sneered as he stalked away.

'His father's probably rolling in his grave right now because his son isn't a natural born transfigurist like he was,' Snape thought quite cheerfully (for him anyway).

At the end of the period, he was disappointed because he didn't get to take points off of or give any detentions to anyone, so when he heard Weasley offer to let Potter copy his homework, he was ecstatic.

But before Snape could swoop down on the boys, he heard Potter tell him no.

Severus stalked off to his classroom scowling and muttering, "The boy must have known that I was there".

* * *

Thursday afternoon found Severus scouring the potion section in the library. He was searching for a book for Dumbledore that he had requested and for some odd reason he couldn't find it in his own library.

As he left the section, he saw Potter alone.

Severus smirked. 'If only he knew what his mother and I done in those particular chairs together, I doubt he would be sitting there.'

He was slightly curious as to why he was surrounded by books far beyond his years. He then watched as he copied certain pages from the books onto his own parchment. His eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch. He was also curious as to what he was copying so much of and why Flitwick had taught them that spell so early in the year.

He watched as Potter went to the charm section to put the books away. Severus wanted to see what he was doing in hopes that he was planning pranks so that he could put him into detention. Before he could do much of anything though, the brat returned.

Thursday night on his late patrol, he found Quirrell lurking about on the third floor corridor. After watching him for a few minutes, he accosted him and watched him flee.

* * *

Friday was his day with the first years.

As soon as he entered the room, he started his speech. He watched the room sit up straighter as he spoke each word.

'Ah, yes. Let's bring the boy down about 10 notches,' thought Severus as he walked over to Potter.

"Potter!" He _almost_ grinned when the boy started.

Severus mused to himself, 'Let's ask him a question that the book barely mentions in passing'.

"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

He watched as Granger shot her hand up. When Potter replied, he heard his Slytherin's start snickering, even though he was sure none of them knew the answer either.

"Let's try again, Potter. Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

With the smallest touch of legilimency that he used on occasion while questioning his students to see if they were cheating, he was surprised to find that Potter knew what a bezoar was. It was a pleasant surprise when he said he didn't know where to find one.

He was becoming annoyed at the Granger girl. She was all but standing with her hand in the air now.

Severus decided to ask a question he was positive the brat couldn't know.

So to say that he was shocked would be an understatement when he knew that they were the same plant, though he betrayed nothing in his face.

"Are there any other names for it, Potter?"

The Granger girl _was_ standing now.

Using a small touch of legilimency again showed that the boy did indeed know the answer so when he said that he didn't know, he was slightly confused. After all, he should be arrogantly flaunting his knowledge like his father did.

"Clearly ... fame isn't everything."

"Clearly, Hermione knows the answer, ask her."

When Potter said that he was unsurprised that the entire room went silent and stopped moving (except Granger).

"Put your hand down you silly girl." He thought she was going to cry.

After deducting a point for his cheek, he explained all of the answers to everyone.

During the practical part of class, he stalked around the room. Musing to himself, he realized that no student had ever _dared_ to talk back like that. While deep down he was proud of Lily's son, on the surface he assumed that it was his father's arrogance coming out.

He praised Malfoy on simple things, just as he was supposed to do. 'At least the boy does have some talent,' he thought.

Then he heard a hiss and turned around in time to see a cauldron melt.

'Merlin, I have _another_ Lilac Littlegrove,' his mind screamed as he went over to Neville Longbottom.

Snape took another point from Potter because he could. He watched as Weasley made him not say anything else. The scene slightly amused him.

After assigning homework, the students brought up their potions then fled.

As he glanced down at the row of bottles, he saw that only 4 of them were right.

He didn't tell the class that they had to infuse some of their magic to get the potion to blend properly that otherwise it would just be a messy pile of goo. This way, he got to see who actually cracked open and read the first couple of chapters of the book before class.

He picked up each bottle. He was unsurprised to see Malfoy and Zabini. He wasn't even surprised to see Granger. He _was_ surprised to see one had Potter's name on it.

Granted, it was slightly the wrong shade, but it would still work, just taste fouler than usual.

This frustrated him. A lot.

* * *

Saturday, Severus found himself in the Headmaster's office.

"... Impertinent, arrogant, exactly like his father, basking in all his fame ... "

Albus let him rant himself out, as he usually did.

Finally, Severus sat down in one of the chairs and picked up a cup of tea.

"Better?"

"A little," Severus admitted.

"I've really only got one thing to say about everything you just raved about."

"Only one?" Severus snorted in disbelief.

"Yes. Let me just say that you see only what you want to see."

Severus glowered at the Headmaster.

"Now, on another note, I need you to do me a slight favor."

Severus nodded.

"I need you to keep an eye on Quirrell for me."

"I've already planned on doing that. I caught him nosing around on the 3rd floor earlier this week."

Dumbledore nodded.

They talked for about 30 minutes when Severus said, "Remember how I told you that it was going to be a long year?"

Albus nodded.

"I have another Lilac Littlegrove in my first years." Severus grumbled.

Albus chuckled. "Just because a student is in Ravenclaw does not mean that they are smart in every subject."

"She can blow up _and_ melt cauldrons at the _same time_, Albus!"

Yet again, he chuckled. "Is this a Ravenclaw as well?"

"No, it's one of your precious Gryffindors actually."

"Is it Harry?"

Severus frowned. "No, he actually got his potion correct. It's Neville Longbottom."

Severus saw the Headmaster's eyes twinkle and scowled at him.

* * *

Sunday morning, Severus headed to the library. He was working on a new potion and he needed more information.

He was slightly shocked when he saw Potter was alert _and_ doing homework at 6:45 in the morning.

It was even more of a shock when he saw the boy had his potions and herbs and fungi books out.

Potter then looked up and met his eyes with Lily's gaze.

"Good morning, Professor."

Snape raised an eyebrow minutely. "Morning Potter. Why are you up this early?"

He was silently hoping that he would admit to causing mischief, so when the brat smiled and said, "I'm always up early. I thought I'd get a head start on your homework, sir," Severus deflated mentally.

Outwardly, he raised his eyebrow even higher. "Already? Where is your sidekick?"

He saw the boy frown.

"Sidekick? If you mean Ron, he's my friend, not my sidekick, and I imagine that he's still asleep."

"Indeed. Have a good day, Potter."

"You too, Professor."

He stalked off (without his library book) to the Great Hall for breakfast.

During breakfast, he asked Flitwick why he taught the copy spell so early in the year.

"I don't cover that until 3rd term Severus if I even cover it at all. Why? Did you see a first year using it?"

"I did." Severus furrowed his brow. 'How did he do that then? I suppose it's possible he picked up his mother's knack for charms ...' thought Severus. He was deep in thought (in the process of ignoring Flitwick as he kept asking who he saw using it) until Minerva started complaining.

"I know the meals aren't mandatory except for certain ones, but he's so small, he _needs_ to eat."

Severus listened to see if he could figure out who she was talking about.

"It's the weekend Minerva, dear. He's probably sleeping in. If you notice, his friends Mr. Weasley and Mr. Longbottom are missing as well."

Just then Longbottom strolled in to eat.

Minerva raised an eyebrow at the Headmaster.

"Oh, well then. Mr. Weasley is still missing," he pointed out.

Now that Severus realized she was talking about Potter, he wondered how long he should let her worry.

Ten minutes later, she was still voicing concern, so he leaned forward in his chair to look around Dumbledore. "Please tell me that the Golden Boy hasn't got you wrapped around his little finger like he does the rest of the staff."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You know as well as I do that I take an interest in my children, especially when their too small for their age."

Severus sneered. "Normally, I would just let you vent and complain but I'd like to eat my breakfast in peace. So would it make you feel any better to know that I've ran across the wonder boy this morning?"

"You? Why on earth were _you_ in Gryffindor Tower?"

He smirked. "I most certainly was _not_ in Gryffindor Tower. I was in the library. I ran across him there ... doing his homework of all things."

"So why is he not here eating if he's awake?"

"I am not his keeper, but it's possible that he is so engrossed in what he is doing that he didn't realize the time, though I imagine he's found some mischief since I've last saw him. With any luck Filch has caught him doing something." Severus grinned at that last statement.

"I'm going to go have a word with him."

Albus put his hand on her arm. "It's the weekend Minerva. He doesn't have to eat if he's not hungry. It's possible one of his friends is going to take him some food as they leave."

She scoffed at him then walked away.

Dumbledore turned to Snape. "You did that on purpose didn't you?"

Severus kept his face blank. "I have no idea what you mean Headmaster." He went back to his breakfast.

During the staff meeting later that afternoon, Severus graded papers while he listened in on what was said.

After it let out, he and Albus were talking as Severus tried to finish up the last of his 5th year's essays.

Suddenly he heard Minerva snort. She was talking to Filius in the corner.

He looked at Albus and saw a confused look on his face as well.

"Minerva, Severus and I want to know what has you in a fizzle?"

She turned and waved her hand at them but lowered her voice even more so she couldn't be overheard as she resumed talking to the tiny professor.

Severus narrowed his eyes at the two of them. He wanted to know what they were talking about. He would have to investigate the matter, and from the look in Albus's eyes, he too would be investigating. This was the first time that either of them had ever heard her snort.

* * *

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far! They encourage me! (Grin)

A/N: Warning, Harry will be powerful, but he won't be super powerful. He will still have to struggle with certain things as well as deal with other childhood issues. Harry is going to be incredibly smart, but don't worry about him out-doing Hermione ... to an extent anyway. (Evil smirk) And to alleviate some fears, he won't all of a sudden wake up and realize woah, I can take on the world! It will be a slow on going process. (Smile)

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Some of what's written in the Sorcerer's Stone will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)


	25. Quidditch, Fluffy, and Snape

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

A/N: As an aside, since I took so long in posting again (throws back the rocks you all threw at me), I decided to post 3 chapters at once. :P

* * *

Chapter 25

* * *

Tuesday night found Ron partially copying Harry's astronomy homework, partially doing it on his own in the common room. It found Harry finally getting a chance to look in those books that he was mentioned in.

He skimmed through the books, getting an idea about what all was in them. During the process he found a paragraph or two on his parents and himself in each one. One book mentioned his dad was an Auror, which Ron explained was a dark wizard catcher. None of them said what his mom did. And none of the books had a picture of his parents. That put him in a foul mood as he was finally hoping that he would get to see what they looked like.

It was midnight before Ron finished, but Harry waited up with him. He packed his library books into his book bag. He would return them in the morning.

Thursday was his first ever flying lesson. They would now be taking place right after lunch, instead of that free period.

"Wonderful, I've always wanted to make a fool of myself on a broom in front of Malfoy," Harry muttered to Ron as they walked to where Madam Hooch and the Slytherin's were standing.

He was thrilled when the broom flew into his hand the very first time he said, "Up!". Only Malfoy's broom had done the same thing. He snickered when Ron's broom flew up and hit him in the face, which caused him to huff at Harry in return.

Harry was so excited when Madam Hooch explained to them how they were to hover. His adrenaline was rushing through him until Neville took off prematurely. Then fear shook him. He gasped in horror with the rest of the Gryffindor's when Neville had fallen and broken his wrist.

When Malfoy grabbed Neville's remembrall and flew into the air with it, it was anger that took over then.

Without knowing what he was doing, he hopped onto the broom and flew into the air. It was then that he realized that he was a natural at something.

When Malfoy had thrown the remembrall, he still had no idea what he was doing. All he knew is that he needed to catch it so that it didn't break. Sure, he could see the castle wall in front of him, but it didn't really concern him all that much. He never even fully realized that he had flipped at two difficult angles as he had caught the tiny ball.

He was elated as he landed, a huge grin on his face as the adrenaline coursed through him again. At least until he saw Professor McGonagall coming in his direction.

During dinner as Harry whispered what happened to Ron, he was a ball of energy. He was supposed to be Gryffindor's secret weapon.

They were chatting idly while Harry waited on Ron to finish eating when he looked up and saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the muggles?" Malfoy had a smug look on his face.

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," Harry said coolly.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own," Malfoy stated. "Tonight if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only - no contact. Trophy room is always unlocked. Crabbe is my second." With that, he stalked off.

With hesitation in his voice, Harry asked, "Ron, what exactly is a wizards duel?"

As they got up to leave, someone tapped Harry on the shoulder. Turning around, he saw Hermione glowering at him.

"I couldn't help over hearing what you and Malfoy were saying and you _mustn't_ go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if your caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

"And it's really none of _your_ business," Harry said turning to leave, very frustrated.

"Good-bye," said Ron.

* * *

After crawling back into bed, Harry grabbed his journal from his trunk, lit his wand, and started writing.

_..._

_Okay, so what ever Hagrid took from that vault is currently under that giant three headed dog. I didn't see the trap door but Hermione did. The package was small, but it doesn't have to be big to be important._

_At least now we know __why__ the third floor corridor is forbidden._

_Oh, and Malfoy is still a git. I suspect Hermione was right about him never even planning to show up, but she doesn't need to know that I think she was right._

_..._

_Harry Potter_

After he resealed the journal and put his stuff away, he crawled back into bed for sleep.

The next day, Ron and Harry were amused to see Malfoy look surprised to see them. Harry did see that Hermione and Neville did not want to ever go near the three headed dog again, which was sad because he and Ron were quite keen on another adventure.

When mail call came, he was _very_ surprised to see a long package being delivered to himself.

He was positively gleeful when he ran into Malfoy on the stairs as he headed towards his dorm to put the broom away and got to tell him that he had an exception to the first year broom rule.

Malfoys' face was priceless.

That evening, unable to wait on Oliver Wood to start flying again, he took off on his Nimbus 2000 and flew around the Quidditch pitch. Flying, as he found out, made him feel so free.

Once Oliver arrived and had explained the rules and all of the balls to him, he had looked at his new captain and said quite calmly, "So no pressure huh?"

Oliver had laughed. "None what-so-ever Potter."

Saturday found Ron and Harry playing chess and exploding snap in the common room. After dinner that evening, they headed to the library.

Harry had become a slight procrastinator this past week. With the exception of anything that had to be done right then, he had not done it. So now he and Ron both were quite a bit behind.

They went back to the back of the library to the secluded table that Harry had found and liked. They decided to work on the Herbology essay first.

It only took about 45 minutes for Harry to write 12 inches, so he switched over to Potions. About 6 inches through the first essay (Snape had assigned two, as he said that he normally would), he looked up to find Ron staring at him strangely.

"What?" Harry whispered.

"Why are you doing Potions so soon?" Ron asked, sounding annoyed.

"Because I'm putting off transfiguration and astronomy until last since those are the ones that I have the worst trouble in. And besides," he dropped his voice even lower, "if I'm to have any sleep this week, I need to get all I can done this weekend because of practice."

"Good idea," Ron stated as he reached for his transfiguration stuff.

At 9:50, Madam Pince pounced like a vulture on prey. "It's almost time to leave boys. Clean your mess up. Now!"

"Yes ma'am," they both muttered.

Harry put his completed Herbology, Potions, and Charms assignments away. Then he and Ron cleaned up their spare parchments and notes that had managed to end up all over the table.

On their way out of the door, Madam Pince gave them a pass that let them have permission to be out should they be accosted by a teacher.

Which they were.

"M-m-mister P-Potter. Mister W-Weasley. It's a-after c-c-curfew for f-first years. D-Do you h-have p-p-passes?"

As Ron handed him their passes, Harry's scar started to twinge, but as Professor Quirrell sent them on their way to Gryffindor Tower, it stopped. He never gave it any more thought that night.

He slept fairly well, but woke up at 5:00 am. Annoyed with himself for waking so early, he slunk off for a shower.

By 6:00 am, he was working on his Defense essay the common room. Around 7:00, Ron stumbled down the stairs towards the shower. By the time he was ready for breakfast, Harry had just finished the essay.

Breakfast talk consisted of Quidditch. As they were finishing up their meal, the twins headed their direction.

"Morning," Fred or George said.

"Hey," Harry replied.

"We came to -"

"Bring you the -"

"Schedule." They both whispered together. They slid a piece of paper toward him before they turned their attention to their own food.

_Potter,_

_McGonagall gave me a copy of your schedule. Until our match with Slytherin get's closer, we are going with the less vigorous training times, which is only 3 days a week. Once mid-October hits, it will be increased to 5 days a week, with the side option to increase it more._

_Your current training times are Mon, Wed, Fri 3:30 - 5:30 pm. From 6:30 - 8:00 pm on the same days the rest of the team practices, so you will be required to attend both sessions._

_Oliver_

"Please tell me that he is joking about increasing the time to more than 5 days a week?" Harry whispered as he handed to note to Ron so he could read it.

Fred shook his head no. "He's a bit fanatical about this. You'll see."

"Ugh," groaned Harry.

Once in the common room, they played a game of chess. "That's all I have time for Ron. You saw that schedule, if I don't do the homework as it comes up, I'll never get it done if I want to sleep."

Ron frowned but nodded. After all, nothing was more important than Quidditch.

Harry grabbed his stuff then went to the library.

He was working so hard on his astronomy homework that he worked right through lunch. By 4pm, he decided to get started on Binn's work.

At 5:30, he looked up to see Ron grinning and jumped.

"Bloody hell Ron, scare me to death why don't you."

"Sorry," he said chuckling. "You have much more to do?"

After catching his breath he replied, "Yeah. I need to finish Binns work and I've still yet to do McGonagalls."

Ron nodded. "Let's go eat. You missed lunch you know."

After dinner, Harry returned to the library. Binn's essay had only taken another 10 minutes to complete. So, he pulled out McGonagall's and glared at it.

An hour later he found himself beating his head against his hands. He suddenly became aware of the fact that he was no longer alone.

Looking around, he saw no one, but sensed someone by the book shelf. He slid his wand down into his hand. He didn't do anything though because who ever it was didn't mean him any harm. However, _how_ he knew that he had no idea.

Deciding he was safe, he returned to his reading. At 9:00 pm, he finally finished his transfiguration essay, which included a particularly nasty drawing.

After he packed his bag again, he glanced around the room and eyed one of the vacant chairs before leaving to search for Madam Pince to get his pass.

* * *

At 3:30 on Monday, he met a couple of other teammates. Alicia Spinnet explained that the earlier practice times was just for those who were free. Oliver then showed up and fitted Harry for a uniform.

He was exhausted by the time he had trudged into dinner (in his school robes). He ate with Ron and explained how practice went. After eating, he went back out onto the pitch.

By 8:30, Harry was sore and could hardly keep his eyes open. He nodded to Ron as he climbed the stairs. He groaned when he heard George (he thought anyway) tell Ron that after a week or two that would get used to the schedule.

Wednesday found him and Ron in Snape's study hall doing homework. He wanted to try to get what he could done before practice. He caught the Professor eyeing him but he saw that he had his expressionless mask on.

He had still yet to figure out why this man didn't like him all that much. As far as he could tell, the other teacher's did, at least to a degree.

On Thursday, Harry actually _slept_ (instead of just day-dreamed like most of the students) through History of Magic which Dean and Ron found highly amusing, so when he got to charms he actually felt refreshed.

"Today class, we are going to do the cushioning charm that we've been discussing. Everyone practice the flick, swish, and flick motion."

Everyone did.

"Now, everyone repeat after me. 'Spongify.'"

Everyone did as he said.

Professor Flitwick then called everyone up individually to perform the charm on a small section of the floor.

Outwardly, the floor never changed in appearance but if you touched the square it was as if it was a cushion.

By the time it was Harry's turn, only Hermione had gotten it on the first try.

Harry performed the charm and was pleased that he too had done it on the first try, but he unknowingly added to much power behind it and the entire floor turned into a giant cushion.

When he realized what he had done, he groaned while a few people laughed. "I'm sorry Professor Flitwick," muttered Harry.

The professor chuckled a little bit himself. "It's quite alright Mr. Potter. You _did_ get it on the first try, you were just a little over enthusiastic." He canceled the spell as Harry went back to his table.

"That brings us to another important part of spell work. The amount of power you put behind a spell will, in turn, cause different results. Now, Mr. Potter, how much power do you feel that you put behind that spell?"

"Er ... barely any Professor." Harry whispered. He saw Flitwick's face and dropped his gaze. He figured that he was in trouble.

"Were you concentrating very hard Mr. Potter?"

"Yes sir. I wanted to do it on the first try."

"It's possible that with you concentrating so hard on the spell you didn't realize how much power you were using. That's perfectly normal." He paused for a moment, as if he wanted to say something else but decided against it. So he continued on around the room instead. "Now, let's continue. Mr. Weasley, it's your turn."

While Ron was attempting his square, Harry finally felt the color return to his cheeks. A glance over at Hermione saw her staring at him with her eyes slightly narrowed.

During Potions class a couple weeks later, Harry was bottling his potion, pleased that he had gotten it right. As he was returning to his seat to clean up his station, he heard Neville's cauldron hiss. He pulled everyone within his reach back as it melted, a reflexive action on his part.

"Idiot Longbottom. Let me guess. You stirred counter clockwise instead of clockwise then added the frog's tongue before you removed it from the heat?"

The Slytherin's were snickering delightfully behind Snape's back.

He vanished the potion and told Neville to sit down before he caused any more damage.

"Why, Mr. Potter, did you not stop him? Trying to make yourself look good again against his mistakes? Ten points from Gryffindor and a zero for the day."

Snape turned to go investigate the other's potions.

Harry had his mouth open to complain but a glare from _all_ of the Gryffindor's silenced him.

On the way out, Harry got in step by Neville. "You know that I didn't deliberately let you mess up right? I was cleaning up my area. I'm sorry Neville."

"It's alright Harry. I know you didn't let me mess up on purpose. I'm just not any good at potions."

"I would have said something had not half of the room glared at me."

"Really, Harry. There's no need to land yourself in detention," huffed Ron.

By mid-October, Harry had finally managed a balance between sleeping, classes, homework, free time, and Quidditch, at least until Oliver upped the practices to 5 days a week.

* * *

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far! They encourage me! (Grin)

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Some of what's written in the Sorcerer's Stone will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)


	26. Snape's Super Secret

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 26

* * *

Thursday afternoon found Severus returning from taking one of his 4th year Slytherin's to the hospital wing after a cauldron fell on his head (assisted by one of the Gryffindor's from the class). As he passed through the outdoor corridor, he saw Madam Hooch leading Longbottom away from a bunch of first years that she was giving flying lessons to.

"Boy's a menace in other classes as well," muttered Severus.

As he continued back to his classroom, he saw Malfoy and Potter arguing. He then saw Malfoy hop on the broom. That's all Draco needed was to get expelled when Hooch returned, which is what would happen if she came back and found him airborne. Lucius would kill both of them.

The next thing he saw was Potter on a broom. He looked like he had been flying for years, which he shouldn't have been considering he was raised by muggles.

"Fantastic," he muttered, "a mini James 'Bloody' Potter gracing us with his flying abilities." Severus was sure that next year he would try out for the Gryffindor team just to show off.

He watched for another minute. Draco threw something and watched as he landed. Potter on the other hand flew to catch whatever Draco had thrown.

He saw that the boy was going to hit the castle wall. He already had his wand raised to soften the blow but instead of casting a spell, he gasped in disbelief when he flipped - twice - to catch it and landed smoothly.

Tucking his wand away, he started to stalk out there to give the boy a piece of his mind and deduct a whole slew of points when he saw McGonagall approaching them, and she looked livid.

He stole back to the shadows as Potter was led away and smirked.

He then scowled as he realized his Potions classroom was probably in shambles now and stalked off.

During dinner, Severus watched as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle sauntered over to the Gryffindor table to pester Potter and Wesley.

His years as a spy had proved useful if anything because it had let him become a semi-decent lip reader.

So he watched as Malfoy challenged Potter to a duel with - dear Merlin - Crabbe as his second.

It was also during dinner that Severus heard a curious rumor among the staff and the twinkle that Albus currently had in his eye was full of mischief and pride. That could not be good.

So he decided to confront McGonagall.

As he swooped up to her office after dinner, he came upon Malfoy and Filch whispering and smirked. 'How very Slytherin of you Mr. Malfoy,' thought Severus.

He strode straight into the office and slammed the door shut. She didn't startle. She never did, which annoyed him. He was itching to catch her unaware one day to see if it could be done.

"Please tell me that you just made up those rumors I heard during dinner about Potter and your Quidditch team? First years are not supposed to make the team!"

"Hmm ... I actually hadn't meant for that to reach _your_ ears ... but the rumors are true. The boy is a natural. We might actually give you a run for your money this year, Merlin knows you've made off with mine the past few. In regards to first years not making the house teams, it's because most first years are not very good flyers. There isn't a rule that says a first year can't participate."

Severus scowled. "Why on earth did you reward his behavior this afternoon. All your doing is telling him that rules are beyond him and inflating his already swelled head." Severus huffed at her.

She narrowed her eyes. "If you saw his behavior, I'm surprised that you did not punish him yourself."

"I was well on my way to when I saw you. I assumed that you would punish him appropriately enough. Obviously I was wrong in that regard. How do you know that the boy won't simply fall off of the broom once he's in the air and that today wasn't a fluke?"

"Today was his first time _ever_ on a broom and he pulled off a move that Charlie Weasley couldn't have performed unharmed, yet there wasn't a scratch on him. Like I said, he's a natural."

He scowled as he stormed from her office.

Severus had an internal debate with himself for 30 minutes. He eventually found himself stalking toward Minervas' quarters with a bag full of money. He pounded on the portrait (who took major offense) and when she opened the door he thrust the bag at her then stalked back to his own sanctuary where he could brood over what he had just done.

Minerva turned and closed the door. She was slightly startled by Severus' behavior.

Albus was currently there having tea with her.

"What's that?" he inquired as she sat down in a chair opposite him.

"I'm not sure. Severus all but threw it at me and stormed away." When she opened the pouch, she saw that it was money. She also found a note.

_Minerva,_

_After much thought, I've decided that you should use this money to buy Potter a decent broom. I believe the Nimbus 2000 is the latest model. When I win your money this year, I'd hate to hear you moping about saying that you only lost because your seeker had a pitiful broom, which is what all of the school brooms are - pitiful._

_I wish to remain anonymous. Make him think that either you or Albus got it for him. And do __not__ tell Albus about this either._

_All the damn twinkling will drive me insane._

_S. Snape_

"Well, what is it?"

She glanced up and saw that he was indeed extremely curious. "Oh, nothing Albus. Severus is just paying me some money that I won from a bet a few weeks ago. Excuse me for a moment."

She then sent off for the broom along with two notes. One note told the store what she wanted and another was to be sent with the broom itself when it was delivered.

* * *

The next morning, Severus watched as Draco blatantly stared in disbelief that Potter and Weasley were still there. It seems that they either did not go or somehow escaped the wrath of Filch.

He was surprised (along with Potter it seemed) when the broom was delivered so quickly. Potter opened the note first then glanced between Minerva and Albus and beamed an award winning smile.

Potions class found the brat turning in his homework and a near perfect potion again. After assigning new homework, everyone fled.

On Sunday, he was surprised to see Potter in the library alone again. He was beginning to wonder about the boy. James sure never lived in the library. Lily did, but not James. He quickly cast a disillusion charm on himself as he watched the boy in fascination.

Severus could tell that he was having issues with his transfiguration work again. He then felt chills go up his spine when he saw Potters wand drop into his hand and stare directly at him.

After a minute or two, the boy when back to work.

On his way out of the library, Severus saw Quirrell on the opposite side in the section that dealt with animals. There was something not right about that man, so he decided to stay and keep a watch on Potter while under the charm so that he could continue to be unobserved. As Potter worked, he kept one eye on Quirrell making sure that he didn't do anything.

Eventually, the boy finished his homework.

As Potter started to walk away, Severus was surprised to see the boy turn back and send a thoughtful look straight at him.

Un-nerved, Severus headed back to his quarters trying to figure out how Potter knew he was there - twice - and how he knew where he was both times.

Wednesday was the next encounter with the boy who lived. He had entered the study hall that he was proctoring. He noticed the boy looked tired.

On Saturday, he met with his first years again. They seemed to be doing pretty good in their classes so far. No one seemed to be suffering from homesickness. That actually surprised him, because there is normally at least one per year.

Sunday was the weekly staff meeting. As it broke up, Severus started to leave when he heard Flitwick and McGonagall chatting. Catching the Headmaster's eye, they both edged their way to them to eaves drop while having a quiet conversation of their own.

"The entire floor Minerva! Then he told me that he barely put any power behind it, or at least as far as he was concerned!"

"Oh, with that and what I saw, we can definitely expect great things from him."

Flitwick nodded his head in agreement then narrowed his eyes once he realized that they were being listened to. Minerva turned and saw the two trying to look as inconspicuous as possible and laughed as both her and the tiny charms professor left the room.

Severus and Albus just stared at them.

Albus looked thoughtful. Severus glared at him and realized that he wasn't going to speak any time soon, so he went to his office to finish grading his papers.

On Thursday, he found Quirrell heading towards the third floor again. However, once he saw Severus, he headed in a different direction.

* * *

"This potion is extremely volatile and is normally found on your N.E.W.T.S." He flicked his wand at the board. "Directions." He then flicked it at the cupboard. "Ingredients. Begin."

He watched as the 7th years began their work. Thankfully nothing exploded or melted.

He didn't have the same luck during his first year Gryffindor / Slytherin class. He had just watched Potter bring a perfectly brewed potion to his desk when Longbottom's cauldron melted. He was slightly impressed with Potter's actions of getting everyone in harms way away, but he was still annoyed that he was doing so well in his class. After all, he wasn't supposed to.

So he did the only thing that he could do. He deducted points and gave him a zero for the day. He was amused by the glares that the Gryffindor side of the room sent Potter when he had started to talk back. Evidently they didn't want any more points deducted.

* * *

By mid-October, Severus was having to fight for the Quidditch pitch between the other 3 houses, but Gryffindor seemed to hog it the most. He was quite pleased with his team this year and he assumed that the reason the Gryffindor's were hogging the pitch was that they were trying to get in shape because they were so bad.

Every time that Severus had tried to sneak down to watch them practice, he was caught by Albus, which got on his nerves. He had a suspicion that Minerva had told Albus to keep him away from the field during those times.

As Halloween approached, he started sinking into a depression as he normally did. There were days that he just wanted to go straight to Azkaban to kill Black for betraying Lily.

From a distance, Albus watched. He knew there was nothing that he could do to cheer him up. Last Halloween Severus had actually hexed the Headmaster's robes so that they itched dreadfully because he had tried to pull him from the depression. He hoped that this year would be better.

He hated seeing the man that he had come to love as a son like this.

* * *

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far! They encourage me! (Grin)

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Some of what's written in the Sorcerer's Stone will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)


	27. Halloween Adventures

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 27

* * *

As Halloween approached, Harry felt some sadness creep into his life. Until Hagrid had told him, he never knew what day his parents had died on. He told Ron this because his friend had noticed that his mood had changed.

"I'm sorry Harry. I didn't know." Harry and Ron were playing chess in their dorm room before astronomy.

"It's alright. I'm probably being stupid. They've been dead for a while ..." Harry trailed off as he made his move.

"You're not being stupid. I'd probably be a mess right now," admitted Ron just before he announced, "Check mate!"

Harry picked up his wand and flicked it as he said, "_tempus_". It was 10 minutes before they had to leave. (Harry had found that spell in his books earlier that week.)

* * *

"_Time to die," the voice said as he laughed. He saw the man raise his wand and send a jet of green light at him._

Harry sat up gasping for air. Once he recognized his surroundings and de-tangled himself from his sheets, he put his glasses on. The bed clock showed the time to be 4:15 am.

Harry scowled. He quickly showered and dressed. As he packed his book bag, he noticed Scabbers on his bed chewing on his sheets for some odd reason. He quickly petted the rat before taking the sheet out of his mouth.

After finishing with his bag, he grabbed his wand and went down to the common room to sit in front of the fire place. He really did not want to go to class today.

The whispers and stares around him had started to pick back up. He assumed that it was because of the anniversary of the day that he, somehow, miraculously defeated Voldemort. Nobody seemed to be inclined to remember the fact that it was also the day that he had lost his parents.

He had sat and stared at the fireplace for so long that before he knew it, Ron was poking him telling him to come to breakfast.

During the meal, Ron was doing his best to get Harry to smile but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

He looked up to see Oliver Wood walking towards him.

"Hi Oliver," said Harry after pushing away his untouched food.

"No practice today," he whispered. "McGonagall seems to think that the feast tonight is more important. Honestly ..." He walked off muttering.

Harry looked at Ron. "Feast?"

"Yeah. There's always a Halloween Feast. Great food!" Ron said as he reached for more sausage.

"I don't think I'll go tonight," muttered Harry.

"What? You have to. Come on. How can you turn down good food? It might take your mind off of things."

Harry grumbled but said that he would think about it.

During charms, they were going to make something fly. The class had been itching to try this since Flitwick had made Neville's toad zoom across the room.

Harry already knew that he could do it. While everyone was asleep one night, he had tried it because he was bored and couldn't fall asleep. However, he levitated a chair as opposed to Neville's toad.

Flitwick had partnered everyone. He had put Harry with Seamus and Ron with Hermione. Harry noticed that neither of those two looked pleased with the arrangement.

Harry had learned a couple of weeks ago that if he let Hermione do things first, a lot less glares were sent his way. In truth, he only seemed to do better than her in charms and defense (even though those were only essays). They appeared to be matched in potions - as far as he could tell anyway. The rest of the classes were not as easy to him, but she, however, seemed to have no trouble with them.

He let Seamus try to levitate the feather first. As he watched, he heard Hermione correct Ron's pronunciation and proceed to levitate her feather with no problem.

"Well done Ms. Granger!" Flitwick exclaimed.

Just as Harry was about to try, Seamus managed to catch the feather on fire, which Harry promptly put out with his hat. As Flitwick gave them a new feather, he saw Ron glaring dagger's at Hermione.

"You try, Harry. I'll go again in a minute," Seamus muttered as he leaned back in his chair.

Harry levitated it on the first try, which earned some praise from the professor then he let Seamus try again. Ron finally got his to raise by the end of class, but he was still in a foul mood.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly."

Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. Harry caught a glimpse of her face - and was startled to see that she was in tears.

"I think she heard you."

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

Hermione wasn't in flying lessons after lunch, which made Harry worry a bit.

Harry used his afternoon to catch up on homework since there was no Quidditch practice today. It also took his mind off of his parents for a while.

"Come on Harry, please go to the feast."

After listening to Ron for 10 minutes, he agreed.

On the way out of the portrait hole, he and Ron over heard Parvati Patil tell Lavender Brown that Hermione had locked herself in the girls bathroom and refused to come out, that she was crying.

Ron looked slightly ashamed of himself.

However, once they were inside the Great Hall, all of Ron's attention focused on the live bats flying over head. Harry was slightly curious at them as well but his heart really wasn't in the celebrating mood.

Harry wasn't very hungry either, which was strange since he really didn't eat much during the day. He had just taken a bite of chicken when Quirrell had run in screaming.

Harry's heart was racing as he and Ron were being led by Percy back towards the dorm.

Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's arm. "I've just thought - Hermione."

"What about her?"

"She doesn't know about the troll."

Ron bit his lip. "Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."

As they rushed towards the girls bathroom that Parvati had mentioned, they heard footsteps.

"What's Snape doing?" Ron whispered.

"Dunno. He's supposed to be in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers."

They quietly followed Snape. Harry pulled Ron into a cubby hole behind a statue. "He's heading towards the third floor," whispered Harry.

They then turned back towards the task of finding Hermione. As soon as they reached the first floor, a putrid smell reached both of their nostrils.

"I think the troll's left the dungeon," Ron muttered.

They watched as the twelve foot troll entered a room. As soon as they locked it in, they high fived each other then started to go search for the girls bathroom.

As soon as they heard the scream, they realized that they had already found the girls bathroom that Hermione was in.

They had just locked the troll in it.

When Ron and Harry entered the bathroom, Harry felt his breath catch momentarily. Then - well he didn't know if he could call it instinct or not but that's what he did call it - instinct kicked in.

A quick scan of the room found Hermione against the wall trying to avoid drawing the Trolls' gaze. Somewhere in the back of his mind he recalled reading something about trolls skin being thick and impervious to most magic.

'Ropes', Harry thought. He then realized that he didn't know how to make them yet.

Then an idea hit. "Confuse it!" Harry shouted to Ron.

Together they yelled at the troll and threw bits of the stall doors at it that the troll had already destroyed.

While the troll was focused on Ron, he tried to get Hermione away but she seemed frozen in terror.

Harry distracted the troll while Ron tried to get her, but she still wouldn't budge.

Suddenly without knowing why he did it, Harry jumped onto the trolls neck to distract it that way (aided by magic he suspected later) and while it didn't notice Harry, it did notice Harry's wand - which had lodged itself up it's nose.

Mad with anger, the troll starting waving it's club around trying to get to Harry. Hermione had shrank even lower with fright. Ron, however, pulled out his wand and yelled the first spell that came to his mind.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

Ron guided the club up and let it drop on top of the trolls' head as Harry jumped to safety.

The troll collapsed less than a foot from where he was standing. It actually shook the castle floor.

Now that the troll was unconscious and he had reclaimed his wand, he felt some of the adrenaline leave him, until he heard the footsteps.

His heart pounded fiercely as he saw McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell glaring between them and the troll.

But what came as the most shocking event of the night was when Hermione told the teachers that she had broke the rules and that they had saved her.

Ron and Harry were still discussing things when they approached the Fat Lady and gave her the password.

It was then that Hermione Granger became his and Ron's friend. After all, there are just some things you couldn't share without ending up liking each other and knocking out a twelve foot mountain troll is one of them.

Later that night, Harry reached for his journal and wrote about the days events and also how he missed his parents. It was around 1am before he finally fell asleep.

* * *

Severus hated Halloween. All he wanted to do was hide all day, but he knew that he would not be allowed to. By breakfast time, he had yelled at 3 people and taken points just because he could.

During breakfast he glanced over at Potter and saw that he looked sad as well.

'He did lose his parents,' Severus admitted to himself.

He didn't have a clear view of the boy, but he could see that he told Weasley that he didn't want to go to the feast.

Truthfully, Severus couldn't blame him, but for the staff, it was unfortunately mandatory.

He then scowled at himself as he realized that he was feeling sorry for the boy.

He felt the Headmaster's gaze on him but ignored it.

He took lunch in his quarters just to hide from everyone else.

He tried to do that again come time for the feast, but Albus was standing at the entrance to his chambers. He knew that he should have used the floo network from his office.

As the food appeared, he realized that Quirrell had not. Just as he was about to point that out, Quirrell had burst into the room yelling about a troll in the dungeons.

Severus gave Albus a quick look and slipped out a side door to head towards the 3rd floor. He opened the door a little and saw that 'Fluffy' was still there.

The next thing he knew is that he was being shoved into the room. The dog snapped at him with one of it's heads and scratched his leg.

Just as it snapped again, he managed to disillusion himself and crawl to the side of the room. After he regained his balance, he opened the door to find Quirrell staring at it.

He canceled his spell the same time that he place a hand around Quirrell's neck.

"Well, well. What do we have here? Trying to get rid of me Quirrell?" Severus whispered words were in a deadly tone.

"I ... I w-would never t-t-try to kill y-you S-Severus."

Snape sensed that there was something not right about Quirrell. His gut feeling had him leaning in and whispering into his ear in a very quiet voice, "I was not one of the Dark Lord's favorite's without reason Quirrell. I could simply kill you right now and blame it on the dogs."

"S-S-Severus w-what are y-you t-t-talking a-about?"

Snape raised an eyebrow at him.

"I w-was here to c-check t-that m-my part of the p-protections w-was still s-safe."

"You still haven't given me any reason why I shouldn't just throw you in there with the dogs."

Quirrell began to struggle with the hand that was still around his neck.

Snape felt his left arm tingle slightly, which caused him to mentally flinch, but he showed no outward sign of it.

"Just so you know, I don't believe you for one second, but seeing as how I have no proof -" A loud crash echoed through the empty halls.

They both separated then headed towards where the noise originated from, but not before Severus sent a silent locking charm towards the door.

They met McGonagall in the corridor and followed behind her into the girls bathroom.

The smell from the troll was horrendous. The unconscious thing was sprawled into the middle of the floor. He rolled his eyes when he saw Quirrell sink down on to a toilet seat. The next thing he saw was Potter and Weasley.

He gave Potter a swift searching look. He could not believe his eyes. These two had obviously just bested a mountain troll.

It was McGonagall that spoke first.

When Granger spoke up, (he was unaware that she was even there because she had been crouched low on the floor against the opposite wall), he could tell that she wasn't telling the truth, at least not the entire truth.

Potter and Weasley were doing their best to act like none of what she said was a surprise. He narrowed his eyes at them.

After McGonagall sent everyone away, she herself turned to go hunt down the Headmaster. Severus was sure that since Quirrell had been the one that let the troll in to start with, he could be the one to clean it up.

"After all, you _are_ the Defense Against the Dark Art's teacher," he sneered as he turned and walked away.

He then headed towards the Headmaster's office and sat in a chair to wait on him.

Albus and Minerva entered about 10 minutes later talking about the incident. Neither looked surprised to see Severus there.

"You are aware that Granger was lying wasn't you?" Severus asked as he rolled up his pants leg to look at the wound that he just remembered he had. (He felt the blood trickle down his leg which is what made him remember it.)

"What do you mean she was lying and what on Earth happened to your leg?" Minerva demanded to know.

"Oh, she was telling the truth about what happened, but not the circumstances leading up to it." He then cast a quick cleansing charm to clean the wound.

Albus looked at him and noticed that he didn't answer the second question.

"Either way, there was no denying that Potter and Weasley took on a full grown mountain troll - and won!" Minerva was grinning, quite proud of them.

Severus was applying some anti-bacterial ointment he had summoned from his personal stores. After he was finished, he muttered a healing spell with his wand then placed bandages over the still open wound. It would take a few days to heal.

"I happen to agree with what you told both boys Minerva. It _was_ sheer dumb luck." Severus smirked at her.

After a minute or two more, she excused herself to make sure that there were no more wanderer's out in the hallway.

"What happened to your leg Severus?" Albus asked very concerned.

"Fluffy."

"Fluffy? Ah ... so the troll _was_ a distraction."

"Yes. I would prefer you to see the memory."

Albus nodded as they headed towards his pensieve. He also included the bathroom portion just so Albus could see his Golden Boy.

After they returned from viewing the memory, they sat down.

"Why did you tell him what you did about Voldemort?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. Call it a gut reaction, but I'm certain that he is working for the Dark Lord. I'm just not sure how, nor am I sure how I know that." Severus frowned because he wasn't explaining things the way that he wanted to, but it seemed that Albus understood what he was trying to say.

"Did your Dark Mark do anything when you were near him?"

Severus nodded. "Towards the end, when Quirrell was having issues breathing, it tingled a bit, but it's not changed in appearance or anything like that. I've checked. I'm sorry Albus if I shouldn't have said what I did, but it felt like it was the right thing to do."

"It's alright. I trust your instincts. Do you think he will approach you for help?"

"I'm not sure. We might need to do something to dissuade him from doing so for _several_ obvious reasons."

"I'm sure we could think of something." Albus had a twinkle in his eye that told Severus it wouldn't be pleasant.

After he had showered and crawled into bed, he turned his head to see a picture of Lily on his night stand and let his last waking thought be of her.

* * *

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far! They encourage me! (Grin)

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Some of what's written in the Sorcerer's Stone will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)


	28. Slytherin Vs Gryffindor

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 28

* * *

Once November began, Oliver had added Saturday to the practice schedule. Harry was very glad that Hermione was their friend now. She did keep trying to make them study all the time but after about 3 or 4 days, she seemed to find the idea of free time somewhat less appalling. She had even consented to look over their homework for them so that corrections could be made if necessary. Harry would only let her look over his transfiguration and astronomy things though.

If she found that odd, she never commented on it.

As the second weekend in November approached, so did the first Quidditch game of the season - Slytherin VS. Gryffindor.

At some point during the previous week, Harry's position of seeker had leaked out. Between people offering to run around underneath him with a mattress and other people telling him that he would be great, Harry was becoming a nervous wreck.

Thursday before the game found Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting in the courtyard during one of the breaks. Hermione and Ron were chatting while Harry was perusing one of the books that Ron had found in the library.

He looked up in time to see Snape walking in his direction with a slight limp.

"Potter, what are you doing?" Snape sneered at the boy, looking for something that he could punish him for.

"Reading _Quidditch Through the Ages_, sir" Harry showed the book to him.

"It's against the rules to have a library book outside. Ten points from Gryffindor. I'll take that."

As Snape reached for the book, Harry pulled it back towards himself. Snapes' eyes narrowed at the brat.

"It's not against the rules to have them outside sir. I asked Madam Pince at the beginning of term," said Harry very stubbornly.

Ron groaned while Hermione looked at him disapprovingly.

"Detention, Mr. Potter, tonight at 7:00 pm. Do not be late."

Harry watched as he limped away.

"Harry you shouldn't talk back to a teacher. It's quite rude and very disrespectful," said Hermione as she glared at him.

"I can't seem to help it with him. I don't know why he doesn't like me but I know that the first time he smells fear from me, he'll never leave me alone."

"Hermione's right Harry. You need to learn to control your temper around him. I've heard he can be quite vicious with his punishments."

A sudden horror seized Harry as he thought of how brutal some of his punishments with his Uncle Vernon had been. He was gladly brought out of that train of thought by the bell ringing.

Later that afternoon, during the first practice of the day, Harry had to tell Oliver that he wouldn't be there that evening.

He wasn't pleased.

* * *

At 6:50 pm, Severus was in his office smiling. He was going to enjoy this detention. If Potter didn't finish cleaning the cauldrons within a certain time frame, he would receive another detention.

It gets under his skin the way the boy has no fear of him. Everyone is supposed to flee in terror at the sight of him. The only reason he had approached Potter was because he wanted to instill some discomfort in him as the Quidditch matched loomed closer. (He had finally managed to sneak down one night to watch him practice and had to admit that he was good.)

Then the brat had to go and spoil his fun.

A knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts. Glancing at the clock, he scowled. It was 6:55 pm.

"Enter."

* * *

Harry came in and stood by the door, slightly nervous about what punishment he was about to get.

"Follow me."

Harry wondered briefly why the man was limping.

They arrived at the potions classroom. There were about 50 cauldrons on the tables.

"You will scrub these and be done by first year curfew otherwise you shall receive another detention."

Harry could hardly believe his ears. Cleaning! He didn't think that was too bad at all, after all, he had years of experience from cleaning at his aunt's house.

Harry switched his wand from up his sleeve to another pocket as he rolled them up so that he wouldn't get them wet.

Putting on some of the water proof dragon hide gloves that were by the sink, he grabbed a rag and started scrubbing.

* * *

Severus was beside himself with glee when he saw Potter pull his wand out. Magic could not be used to clean cauldrons so he was thrilled at the possibility of being able to yell at the boy.

Then the brat had put his wand away. Severus scowled.

He seriously doubted the boy would do a good job on the cauldrons. Severus figured that he had probably never had to clean anything in his life. So, he would still get to yell at him.

That thought appeased him for the moment as he sat at his desk.

* * *

While Harry worked, he noticed that Snape was grading papers. The look on his face showed sadistic pleasure so he was sure that it couldn't be good grade wise.

At 8:00, he only had about 10 or so more to go. As he crossed the room to get something, he noticed some blood around where Snape was sitting.

Alarmed, Harry halted and said, "Professor Snape, you're bleeding!"

* * *

Severus glared, about to tell the boy that he was daft but had then followed his gaze and saw that he was indeed bleeding.

"Back to work Potter. Twenty five minutes left to go!" he barked at the boy as he summoned supplies from his personal cupboard.

He was so intent on cleaning the wound, he never noticed Potter stealing glances at him.

As it was, Severus was annoyed that the thing hadn't healed completely yet. It hardly hurt anymore which was why he never thought to change his bandages earlier. He estimated 2 or 3 more days and he'd be able to close the wound up for good.

* * *

At 8:20, Harry cleared his throat slightly.

Snape looked up and glared.

"I'm finished, sir." He saw Snape narrow his eyes in disbelief.

He stood by and waited while the professor inspected the cauldrons so that he could be dismissed.

* * *

Severus carefully inspected each one, swearing his eyes were deceiving him. Grudgingly he admitted to _himself_ that the boy had done a good job.

"Very well Mr. Potter. Dismissed."

He watched as the boy headed towards the door. He wanted to ask the brat why he didn't use magic but wasn't sure if his own ego could have handled it if the boy actually knew the correct response.

The next day, during lunch, found Severus having a heated discussion with Albus to where only Quirrell could overhear.

"You've got to be kidding Headmaster. Minerva would be better."

"I'm going to be asking her as well but since their your Slytherin's, I also want your assurances that nothing will happen to Harry."

Severus growled low in his throat. "Why can't you do it?"

"Because I have an appointment at the Ministry tomorrow. I won't take no for an answer Severus. If anything happens to him, more than just your job will be on the line."

Severus blanched then stood, declared he was no longer hungry, and stormed away.

As he left, Quirrell eyed him carefully.

* * *

Saturday found Harry a nervous wreck. He couldn't eat anything.

"What have I got myself into?" he mumbled to Ron.

"You'll be fine Harry. You've been great during practice."

"I'm going to make a fool of myself."

Hermione chuckled. "No you won't Harry. We have faith in you."

With each step towards the changing rooms, he felt like he was going to his doom.

However once he was up in the air, he felt loads more confident. He couldn't help but grin when he saw the flashing 'Potter for President' banner.

Slowly, while keeping only a part of his attention on Lee Jordan as he announced the game, he scanned the stadium looking for the tiny golden snitch.

The game plan had been for him to keep out of sight and fly overhead that way the bludger's wouldn't attempt to go for him so early in the game. So that's what he did.

* * *

Severus watched as Potter flew into the air. The joy of flying was quite evident on his face. He eyed his own team. They weren't bad this year. Terrence Higgs was definitely one of the better seekers.

Glancing around the pitch, he followed the game all the while keeping one eye on Potter.

He watched as the boy went into a dive. It was a couple of seconds before Higgs even saw him. He then took off himself.

He then smirked as Marcus Flint deliberately blocked Potter by slamming into him. He couldn't help but grin when the Gryffindor's started yelling in protest.

It was about 20 minutes later that he felt powerful dark magic swirl around him in the air. His eyes automatically went to Potter. He was having trouble with his broom.

He fixed his gaze on him and started muttering a counter curse based on what little elemental magic he knew, which was the most appropriate in this case as he was airborne.

* * *

Harry felt his broom jerk. He was trying to figure out why it had done so when it had done it again. It was during the third jolt that he felt something strange. If he had to describe it, Harry supposed he could have called it a tug of war between something trying to pull him off of the broom and something trying to keep him on it.

But one thing was clear either way; he had completely lost control of his Nimbus 2000.

He gripped the handle tighter, trying not to fall off. Finally it seemed that the other people noticed that he was having problems because the Weasley twins were circling below him trying to get him onto one of their brooms. The only problem with that was that every time someone got close to him, his broom would fly even higher and zig zag even more than it was already doing.

With one very sudden move that Harry wasn't quite expecting, he was unseated. He tried desperately to hang on because he knew that if he fell from the height he was currently at, he would likely break his neck.

* * *

As Severus was chanting, the back of his mind became alarmed when it realized that Potter was desperately trying to hold onto the broom with one hand.

He could feel the dark magic in the air swirl faster, trying even harder to shove the boy's hand away from the broom. Severus added an extra line of protection to the string of Latin he was muttering under his breath.

A few minutes later, he no longer felt that dark pull around him. Just as he finished up his incantations (it would have been deadly for him to stop in the middle of him speaking it), his left foot felt hot. He glanced down just as the boy pulled himself up onto the broom and realized that his robes were on fire.

* * *

While Harry was hanging on for all he was worth, he suddenly felt one of the pulls stop pulling. After hanging there for about 30 seconds or so, he managed to swing himself back up onto his broom.

Just as he threw his leg over it, from the corner of his eye - near the ground - he saw a tiny golden ball. A quick glance around the pitch showed that the Slytherin seeker hadn't seen it yet, so he dived for it.

As he was zooming towards it, the snitch shifted. He wasn't even aware of the fact that he had his mouth open, until he felt the snitch fly into it.

It surprised him so much that he fell off of his broom and landed on all fours (thankfully he was only a couple of feet above the ground when it had happened). He then started heaving, trying to get it out of his throat. Eventually it flew into his hands. His eyes were watering as he yelled, "I caught the snitch!"

* * *

Severus could hardly believe his eyes. The boy nearly _swallowed_ the snitch. Glancing around, Minerva had a look of appreciation in her eyes and a look of smugness on her face. It turned out to be quite an intimidating look.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the money that he had lost in the bet with her and handed it over.

"Thank you Severus."

They both knew that she wasn't thanking him for the money. He just glared at her in response.

On the walk into the castle he saw Potter, Granger, and Weasley heading down towards Hagrid's hut with Hagrid. He couldn't help but sneer. He also saw that Quirrell was trying to siphon off dirt from his robes.

"My, my Quirrell. I never figured you would be one to roll around in the dirt."

"I h-had a little a-ac-accident S-Severus. N-nothing to be w-w-worried about."

"Indeed."

Severus stalked off to his chambers for some much needed wine.

* * *

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far! They encourage me! (Grin)  
A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)  
A/N: Some of what's written in the Sorcerer's Stone will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)

A/N: To answer some of the reviewer's questions: It will be a while before either find out that Harry is Severus' son ... if they do at all... (cackles insanely and ducks flying objects).


	29. Christmas Approaches

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 29

* * *

_November 18, 1991_

_Hermione, Ron, and I still haven't figured out what Fluffy is guarding. Every chance we get, we spend the time in the library looking over books to try to figure out who Nicolas Flamel is._

_We figure that once we know that, we'll be able to see what Snape is trying to steal. We already know that he let the troll in on Halloween. The wound I saw on his leg had to have came from the three headed dog._

_I still swear that I've seen that name somewhere before. I checked all those books I read at the beginning of the year with no luck._

_I figure that the other two will find out who he is before I do. Oliver still has us practicing 5 days a week. As it is, I hardly have time to study now._

_Sleep call._

_H. Potter_

Once December arrived, McGonagall made Wood cut down practices to 3 days a week because exams for most of the teacher's were coming up.

Oliver wasn't pleased. Harry, however, was because that meant that he would actually have time to sleep.

* * *

"You're holding your wand wrong Harry."

Harry glanced down at his wand then back up at Hermione.

"This is how I hold it for charms. It works find then."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Harry, are you performing your transfiguration spells the same way you do your other practicals?"

Harry nodded, slightly confused.

"Harry, that's how half of my stuff blew up," Seamus chimed in while Dean was nodding.

"You have to hold it like this while transfiguring items." She corrected his hold on his wand.

Curiously, he asked, "Is it different for each subject?" He knew in the upper years that potions and herbology used spells.

"No." Ron said. "Well, _maybe_ for defense on certain shields and blocks, but otherwise it's mainly just transfiguration."

"Ugh. I'm surprised I've done as well as I have then. It had to have been accidental."

Neville laughed. "Sounds like my luck!"

Holding his wand appropriately, he tried transfiguring his rock into a ball. It only turned into round rock (which was closer than what it had been turned into previously), but that was without Harry concentrating anywhere near the level he was 5 minutes before.

Harry grinned at Hermione. "Thanks!"

His classmates just chuckled. He looked at Seamus and asked, "Did she help you too?"

He nodded. "I almost blew up the table over there." Seamus pointed across the common room to a table where a bunch of 3rd years sat.

That sent Ron into a fit of giggles.

* * *

As Christmas slowly approached, Harry was getting excited. As soon as McGonagall had brought the list around inquiring who would be staying over the holidays, Harry had been the first to sign up.

Ron had also stayed because his parents were going to visit one of his older brothers in Romania. Everyone else in his year in Gryffindor was going home.

During the last potion's class before the holiday began, before Snape had even entered the room, Harry heard Malfoy talking across the room.

"I do feel so sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

He saw that Malfoy was looking at him and he just shrugged back in his direction. Ever since the Slytherin's had lost in that Quidditch match, Malfoy had been trying to make everyone laugh by saying that a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as seeker next. However, no one really found that amusing because they had all been impressed by the way that he had managed to hang onto his broom.

During the exam, he focused on the potion he was making. He found out long ago that if he tuned the room out, he really enjoyed this class.

Ever since he officially became friends with Hermione, he noticed that she really was friendlier if she done things first. He had yet to figure out why though. So during charms, he continued to make sure she showed Flitwick her spell-work first. Defense wasn't a problem because those were all essays. Potions, however, was the only class that he had himself do a mini-compromise with. He would first make the potion correctly, just to make sure that he could, then, as long as it wasn't an exam, he would sabatage his own work (when the Slytherin's didn't do it for him that is) every 2 or 3 weeks so that she got the better grade. His essay work though, he would not mess with in any class. All the other subjects he had no problem letting her do better in because he, himself struggled in them.

As he was stirring his potion clockwise and infusing a little bit of his magic, a flying fish scale flew across the room and landed in his cauldron - in effect ruining it. He looked up and saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle looking quite smug with themselves.

Snape passed by at that moment and Harry saw him smirk as he wrote down something that looked suspiciously like a zero in his papers.

Right before the bell rang, Snape gave them holiday homework, which made everyone groan.

Harry was in a foul mood as they trekked towards transfiguration.

"You need to calm down Harry. He _can't_ fail you for it because he _saw_ Crabbe throw it," stated Hermione matter-of-factly.

Ron looked at her in disbelief. Harry just snorted. "I saw him give me a zero Hermione."

Her eyes widened.

"It's alright. It shouldn't affect my grade in there _too_ much."

Evidently she agreed because she never said anymore about it.

Harry had calmed down a little for the practical part of his test in transfiguration. However, he still added a tad too much power behind his spell because on the 4th try when it finally worked, his small stick that he was supposed to transfigure into a candle turned into a very fat candle, one very much not in the set parameters.

"Ugh. I'm sorry Professor McGonagall."

She had her lips pressed together and shooed him out so another student could do it.

After lunch, Ron wanted to take a nap and Hermione wanted to pack, so Harry told them that he was going to the library to get started on his holiday work.

Hermione looked on approvingly even if there was a touch of suspicion in her eyes. Ron went nuts.

"Look at it this way Ron. If I get it all done today and tomorrow, I don't have to worry about it anymore and you can even look at it if you need to."

That seemed to win it for him, so he headed up the stairs to the dormitory to take a nap while Harry followed long enough to collect his books.

He found what he dubbed as 'his table' empty in the library and pulled out his herbology essay. He looked up in time to see Neville approach him.

"Hi Harry. Is it okay if I work with you?"

Harry smiled. "Sure." He knew that with Neville, he'd be able to get more work done as opposed to if he worked with Dean or Seamus.

Neville saw what Harry was going to work on first and grinned. He pulled the same stuff out.

By 2:00pm, Neville almost had his essay finished while Harry only had 1 of the required 2 feet written.

"You really like Herbology don't you?" Harry inquired quietly of Neville.

He nodded almost sheepishly. "It's the _only_ subject that I'm good at."

Harry frowned. "You're good in charms. I've seen you do spells faster than some people in that class."

"I'm not as good as you or Hermione."

"Hermione is better than everyone in everything," Harry said grinning.

When Neville raised his eyebrows a little, Harry squirmed and turned his attention back to his homework.

After Neville was finished with his, he offered to look over Harry's. He only had 18 inches so far.

Fifteen minutes later found both of them working on their astronomy stuff. When it came time for dinner, they had just finished it up.

"Hermione once said that they go easy on the first years. I'm going to dread the next few years if this is easy."

Neville agreed whole heartedly.

Once they arrived back in the common room, they saw Ron and Hermione playing wizards's chess. That was the only thing that she seemed to lose at, which is something _everyone_ thought was good for her.

The next morning, after breakfast, found Hermione reminding Harry and Ron to continue their search for Flamel.

"Hermione, we've looked in all those books on your list. We're out of ideas," protested Ron.

"You've not looked in the restricted section," she whispered. "Happy Christmas." With that, she bounced out of the room, pulling her trunk behind her.

"I think we've been a bad influence on her," pointed out Ron.

Harry nodded his head as they set up the chess board. Harry was still not any good at it but it was still fun to play.

* * *

Severus was sitting in his chambers when Albus flooed into his room.

"Minerva told me what happened and that thanks to your quick thinking and actions, Harry is still alive. Do you know who it was?"

Severus shook his head. "I have my suspicions but unfortunately no way to prove them."

Albus nodded as he sat in one of the chairs by the fireplace. "I want you to referee the next Gryffindor match Severus."

"Excuse me?!" Severus did a double take at the Headmaster because he was _sure_ he heard the man wrong.

"I want you to referee the next match. With you there, you could be closer to catch him should he actually fall. I'll be in the stands the next time, so hopefully both will be a deterrent on any future attempts on his life."

Severus scowled and glared at the same time at Albus, who in turned just twinkled at him.

They talked for an hour before the Headmaster left.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Severus caught Potter, Granger, and Weasley glaring at him quite a few times. He just assumed it was because he continually managed to find ways to give Potter detention whenever he could.

He was pleased to note that Potter started turning in lower quality work. He just assumed that his beginner's luck was _finally_ running out.

Quirrell kept trying to talk to him but his incessant stuttering was getting on his nerves. So, he continued to ignore him.

As the holiday's approached, Severus found himself avoiding certain Headmaster's and all his holiday cheer.

He kept trying to avoid the staff meetings but was unable to. He and Albus still had not figured out who Minerva nd Filius kept whispering about and it was amusing to see what happened when Albus' curious twinkle went unanswered. That didn't happen very often.

Severus almost wished he were in on the secret just so he could annoy the man as well.

During the last potion class of the holiday, Severus was about to stride into his classroom when he heard Malfoy taunting Potter. Ever since Slytherin had lost that game, Draco had taunted him as often as he could.

Talk about a sore loser.

He eyed the class diligently, making sure no one was cheating - well - that no Gryffindors' were cheating. If Malfoy didn't help Crabbe and Goyle, he was sure that neither would be able to find their way out of a room with the door open. They were both as thick as their fathers, if not thicker.

Severus kept his eyes on Potter and saw that the boy was on his way to a perfect potion. He still tried to figure out how he did, on occasion, turn in a perfect potion. A person has to know exactly how much magic to put behind each stir otherwise it would be too weak or too strong, which was indicated by the color.

However, before he could ponder that thought anymore, Crabbe launched something across the room at Potter.

It landed in the cauldron - which did indeed ruin it. That solved the problem of having to give him a decent grade. Severus made sure that the brat saw him mark down a zero on the piece of paper he was carrying.

He smirked at Potter's face.

* * *

Sunday evening found Severus having tea with Albus in his office.

"I've decided to give Harry his father's invisibility cloak for Christmas."

Severus choked on his tea. "What?!"

Albus reached into a drawer and removed the silvery material.

Severus touched it. "Albus, I've never seen a cloak like this."

Albus' eyes twinkled. "Nor have I. I had it in my possession the night that James and Lily died."

Severus stiffened slightly.

"This belongs to Harry now. I'm sure he would be able to find _many_ uses for it."

Severus' eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You're just inviting him to sneak around and cause all sorts of rule breaking. It certainly explains a great deal of the Maurader's mysterious escapades around school though," he added as an after thought.

Albus chuckled. "It does indeed. And to ease your own mind, if you catch Harry using it to break any school rules, you are of course, free to give him detention or take house points as you see fit. It certainly hasn't stopped you thus far this year."

A predatory gleam came across Severus' eyes but Albus kept speaking.

"I must admit that I do find myself curious as to what he'll do with it. I imagine he'll explore the castle more than anything, which he can do a lot easier while not being directly seen."

Severus huffed at the Headmaster in obvious disbelief that the boy who lived would only explore.

* * *

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far!

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Some of what's written in the Sorcerer's Stone will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)


	30. Christmas Wanderings

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 30

* * *

On Christmas Eve, Ron had fallen asleep surprisingly early. Harry, on the other hand, really wasn't all that tired. So he stayed up and wrote in his journal for a while. After he finished writing, he pulled out his half completed transfiguration essay.

He had managed to finish all of his other work over the past few days after Ron had fallen asleep and before he had gotten up. This was the only thing left.

Around 1am, he finally crawled into bed. He honestly didn't expect any presents but that was fine. He still figured that it would be the best Christmas he had ever had.

Harry and Ron both seemed to wake at exactly the same time.

"Happy Christmas, Ron!"

"Happy Christmas, Harry!"

It was then that Harry saw the small stack of presents at the end of his bed. "I have presents?!"

Ron eyed him for a minute before replying, "What did you expect? Frog spawn?"

Harry was on the edge of saying that he'd never gotten a Christmas present before but shrugged instead.

While Ron dove into his own stack, Harry opened Rons, Hermione's, and Neville's, which were all different types of candy. Hedwig was currently off delivering sweets to Neville and Hermione as it was.

There were 2 packages left. He was eyeing them, trying to figure out who they were from. As he opened one of them, he heard Ron groan.

"That's from Mom. She's made you a Weasley sweater."

Harry noticed that Ron's ears were turning pink.

"A Weasley sweater?"

"I kinda told mom that you didn't really expect to get a lot for Christmas. She makes us one each year. Mine's always maroon."

Harry grinned. "I think they're brilliant!"

Ron's entire face turned pink.

When he opened the last gift - his invisibility cloak - he wasn't sure what to feel. He was a little perturbed over the fact that it was unsigned, but at the same time he was thrilled to have something from his father.

Before Harry could put too many coherent thoughts together though, the twins burst in the room, so he quickly stuffed the cloak out of sight.

* * *

Snape watched as Potter and the Weasley clan sauntered in for breakfast. He snickered when he saw the boy-who-lived in a Weasley sweater. A glance at Dumbledore saw approval in his eyes.

Later that evening, during Christmas dinner, he watched as the boy pulled one of those annoying wizard crackers that Albus was so fond of. He saw the brat's eyes light up when his own chess set came out of one.

"Finally, maybe this set will actually listen to me!"

Dumbledore chuckled. He must have heard him too.

"Minerva, did you send an owl to his family so that they could send his Christmas presents to him?"

She looked at the headmaster warily. "Yes and I got the owl back. It looked a little roughed up. It wasn't carrying anything when it returned either, except for the unopened letter I sent them explaining how to use the owl."

Albus frowned but said nothing.

When he saw Harry and the three Weasley's head out the door, Severus watched the Headmaster sneak away.

* * *

"Mr. Potter, Mr.'s Weasley's, I trust you four are enjoying your Christmas."

Harry stared at the Headmaster in shock then he smiled at the man.

"Yes sir. This is the best Christmas I've ever had," admitted Harry honestly.

"Yes sir. We were going -"

"Out for a snowball fight if -"

"You want to join us -"

"Professor Dumbledore," both twins chorused together as they plastered matching mischievous grins on their faces.

Albus twinkled at them quite merrily. "Not this year boys. I'd hate to be shown up by 4 against 1. I don't believe my ego could handle it like it used to." He laughed at their faces. "Go on. Have fun!"

Harry couldn't believe it. "Uh, guys, do you talk to him often?"

"No. Only when we get into a lot of trouble. He's pretty cool though," said Fred.

"Actually, everyone says he's the only one you-know-who is afraid of," George said, "so I reckon he can get nasty if provoked."

Harry and Ron both nodded at the twins, and before he and Ron could even pick up a handful of snow, the twins charmed a dozen snowballs to fly at their heads.

* * *

Albus came back to the table to finish his meal. He looked at Minerva and said, "Harry has assured me that this is his best Christmas ever. Oh, and the Weasley twins challenged me to a snowball fight."

Severus nearly choked on a piece of pheasant that he had just taken a bite of. Once he regained his composure, he eyed the Headmaster. "I'm surprised you didn't take them up on the offer."

"Against the Weasley twins? I may be getting old - but I'm not becoming senile. I see that those two are going to become the biggest pranksters Hogwarts has ever seen."

Severus gave the Headmaster a look that quite plainly stated how he felt about the old man's sanity, and a quick glance at Minerva showed that she was desperately trying not to laugh.

* * *

Severus was making his late night patrols. He figured that since Potter had that damned cloak now, tonight would be the first time he would use it.

As he rounded the corner, he came upon an out of breath Filch.

"You asked me to come directly to you Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library - Restricted Section."

'Potter or Quirrell', thought Snape. "The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."

As he and Filch went down the corridor, he saw the door at the end of the hallway move slightly.

'I know where they are now,' he mused.

A few minutes later, he and Filch split up so he headed back to the room in which he saw the door move.

He cast an invisibility spell on himself instead of the disillusion charm.

As he edged around the out skirts of the room, he saw Potter staring at a mirror.

Severus knew what the mirror was. He wasn't aware that Albus still had it though. Severus had to admit that he was curious as to what Potter's true heart's desire was.

Just as he was musing that it was probably power, money, and more fame, he heard Potter say, "Mom? Dad?"

Severus inhaled sharply, which luckily went unnoticed.

'He's seeing Lily,' thought Severus with a twinge in his heart.

"I've always wondered what you two looked like."

Severus narrowed his eyes. 'Surely his aunt and uncle have pictures spread around like a shrine for the boy.'

He watched Potter's expressions carefully as he eyed the mirror. He was honestly acting like he had never seen them before.

This did not set well with the Potions' Master, though he really wasn't sure why.

Near dawn, Potter walked away with a promise to return later that evening. After making sure that he really was gone, he locked and warded the room.

Removing his invisibility spell, he walked up to the mirror.

He saw Lily holding a baby - his child. His family. He stared into her green eyes and got lost in them. This is what he desired the most, more than anything in this world.

A family with Lily. And now that was impossible. He knew that he should head off to bed, but he couldn't pull himself away from the mirror just yet.

"I love you, Lily," whispered Severus before stalking off to his bed an hour later.

* * *

The second night, Severus was already waiting invisible in the corner. He planned on discipling the boy this evening.

So when the cloak fell and he saw that Potter wasn't alone, he was only partially shocked. He should have known that he would bring Weasley down to show him.

He watched as they fought over the mirror for a minute. Getting tired of the argument; he carefully withdrew his wand and had a suit of armor in the hallway rattle. He nearly laughed as they both turned white and threw the cloak over themselves.

After they left, he also headed to bed - managing to not look in the mirror again.

* * *

After breakfast, Severus stalked up to Albus' office.

"Lemon drop, Severus?"

He glared at the Headmaster and shook his head. "I thought you'd like to know that your Golden-Boy and his side-kick found the Mirror of Erised two nights ago."

"Actually, Harry found it the first night. Mr. Weasley joined him the second."

Severus paled slightly and shifted in his chair. "How did you know that?"

Albus eyed him carefully. "I overheard them both whispering yesterday afternoon in the courtyard while I was taking a stroll."

Some color returned to his face. "I managed to refrain from taking points and giving detentions but I believe you should talk to them tonight, otherwise I might not be so nice ..."

"You looked in the mirror didn't you?"

Severus nodded.

Albus thought for a minute then leaned forward and said, "So, tell me, what did they see when they looked into the mirror?"

* * *

That night, Severus just disillusioned himself while the Headmaster used the invisibility spell.

When Potter pulled off the cloak, Severus really wasn't surprised to see him alone. He too would want to spend as much time with Lily as he possibly could.

Albus let the boy sit for a few minutes before he approached him.

Severus listened to what the Headmaster said to Potter, knowing that some of his words were also meant for him.

He felt his eyebrows raise when he heard the Headmaster say, "If you ever _do_ run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."

Severus watched as Harry picked up the cloak. Before he put it on, Harry looked straight at him again.

This was frustrating to Severus.

About 20 minutes later, they were both sitting comfortably in Albus' office.

"You do realize that he knew someone was disillusioned where you were sitting right?" asked Albus with a bright twinkle in his eye.

Severus scowled. "I don't know how, but that's not the first time he's looked straight at me while I was disillusioned. It's a little unnerving to be honest. How does he know that I'm there?"

Albus just twinkled at him in response, no doubt coming up with about 10 different theories but not planning on sharing any. When Severus realized that, he sighed and instead asked a question that had been plaguing him for a few minutes.

"Albus, what did you mean when you told the boy that he would know what to do if he ever ran across the mirror again?"

Albus appeared to consider his response for a moment then grinned. "At the moment, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, and Mr. Weasley are under the impression that _you_ are trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone."

Severus' eyes widened in shock.

"They don't know what it is yet, but they are aware of Fluffy and that he's guarding something. In all honesty, from what I've observed of them so far, I imagine that they will try to keep you from it by going after it themselves."

Seeing that Severus was about to interrupt, Albus rushed on to say, "Of course, I'm hoping that they don't. I'm hoping that they think to tell another professor about their suspicions but to be on the safe side, I decided to let him know how it worked. I've actually planned on adding it to the protections for some time now, as the final step, especially with Professor Quirrell lurking about."

Severus opened and closed his mouth several times in an effort to yell at the man but nothing ever came out. He eventually found his voice. "And what will you do should they actually go after it themselves as opposed to telling someone? If by some chance they actually figure out how to get past that three-headed mongrel, do you really think they'll live past the Devil's Snare or even _my_ portion of the obstacle should they actually get that far?"

Albus frowned at his Potion's Master. "Everything will be fine Severus. You're worrying to much. If I see that they're about to dive in recklessly to get it first, I do plan on stopping them."

Taking a deep breath and exhaling it slowly, Severus met Albus' eyes. "I'm sorry for my tirade Albus, but I know quite a few seventh years who couldn't get past the obstacles down there. To even begin to imagine that a first year could just took me by surprise."

"No need to apologize. You know that. I think it's good that you care for Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, and Mr. Weasley's well being."

Severus scowled. "They're students under my protection. I have the need to keep them out of trouble, whether they like it or not. I think the word care is going too far though," he offered dryly.

Albus' just twinkled at him. "Whatever you say Severus."

The potion's master just glared as he picked up his now luke warm tea to take a drink.

* * *

A/N: You get two chapters tonight! I have the next one typed and written, I just gotta make a few changes to it first, so it should be up in a day or two.


	31. Dragon's and Tea

Chapter 31

* * *

Once the new term started, Harry found himself busy once again. Wood started back up to 5 practices a week. Harry was practically living in study hall to get what work he could done before practice as he was exhausted after them.

Ron and Hermione, meanwhile, kept searching the library for Flamel.

One evening towards the end of January found Harry working on his astronomy homework while Ron and Hermione played chess when Neville hopped into the room, having been cursed by Malfoy.

It was then, thanks to a chocolate frog card, that the trio found Nicolas Flamel and figured out what the three headed dog was guarding.

* * *

As the match loomed closer that Severus was supposed to referee for, he became a lot more irritable. As a result, Longbottom blew up twice as many cauldrons.

Every once in a while Potter would be about to turn in a near perfect potion when one of his Slytherins' would sabotage it. It was partially amusing to see Potter's face afterwards.

The day of the match finally arrived mid-February. Severus woke up with a slight headache.

"Not a good start," he grumbled to himself.

Once the game started he awarded Hufflepuff a couple of penalties simply because he could. 'May as well take advantage of the situation,' he thought as he smirked.

Five minutes into the game saw a red blur fly past him, inches away from his body. Severus was almost unseated. Before he had a chance to figure out what had happened, he saw Potter holding up the snitch.

Scowling and sending Potter his best death glare, he landed and headed for the castle.

On the way back in, he saw Quirrell lurking about.

"Quirrell, meet me in the forest near Hagrid's hut in 45 minutes."

* * *

Severus hung in the shadows as he stalked towards the Forbidden Forest. Making his way into the trees, he saw Quirrell waiting for him.

"Why d-did you w-w-want t-to meet h-here of all p-places Severus?"

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all."

"D-Don't k-know why y-you'd t-think I w-was interested in it any w-way."

Severus raised a brow. "Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

"B-b-but Severus, I -"

"You don't want me as your enemy Quirrell," said Snape, taking a step towards the quibbling Defense professor.

"I - I don't know w-what you -"

"You know perfectly well what I mean. Now, I don't know who you're working for, but while I _am_ bound to Dumbledore for many reasons, my real loyalties lie elsewhere. I just happen to know of someone that could use that stone." Snape took another step towards Quirrell. "So tell me who you're working for and about your little bit of hocus-pocus down there. I'm waiting!"

"B-but I d-d-don't -"

"Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and have decided where your loyalties lie."

Snape threw his cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing and back straight towards the castle.

* * *

As the school year progressed so did the amount of homework. Harry did however realize that the more tired he was at night, the less chance he stood of having nightmares.

Easter holidays had Neville, Harry, Ron, and Hermione staying at the castle. The rest of the first year Gryffindor's went home.

They spent the entire week studying and doing homework, which annoyed Ron.

Saturday night found Harry reaching for his journal.

_Wonderful! On top of worrying about Snape and the Sorcerer's Stone along side of homework and Quidditch, now I gotta add Hagrid and his illegal dragon egg into the mix._

_According to him it's a Norwegian Ridgeback and it's rare. He doesn't even seem to be bothered by the fact that he lives in a __wooden__ house._

_H. Potter_

* * *

_The dragon hatched. It was actually cool to watch. The problem now is Malfoy saw the dragon. He's walked around almost all week with a smug smile on his face._

_We finally convinced Hagrid to send it off to Charlie and it leaves tomorrow night. Ron's in the infirmary. Norbert bit him. We think that his fangs are probably poisonous. _

_Hermione and I decided to do it alone under the cloak. As soon as Hagrid steps foot in the castle, Mrs. Norris stalks him, so it wouldn't be safe for him to do it._

_Not to mention the fact that he would probably back out at the last minute. He's way to attached to that blood dragon._

_H. Potter_

* * *

Severus had been reading when a knock at his door came. He cast a quick tempus charm and furrowed his brow when it revealed that it was about 15 minutes to midnight.

Casting a revealing charm at the door, he silently fumed when it showed McGonagall and Malfoy standing in the hallway.

"I'm sorry to bother you Professor Snape but I found Mr. Malfoy up in the Astronomy tower. I deducted twenty points and gave him a detention to be served later. You can deal with him now."

Snapes' voice took on an icy edge. "Don't worry, I will."

Once he made sure McGonagall was out of ear shot, he held up his hand to silence Draco.

"I'm very disappointed in you Draco. Out after curfew _and_ caught. I'm going to be writing to your father in the morning. In addition I'm taking another 10 points from Slytherin and you will also serve a detention with me."

With each word, Severus noted that the boy got both paler and angrier at the same time.

"Now, pray tell, _why_ were you out after curfew _and_ on the astronomy tower? You know that you are only allowed up there on nights you have astronomy."

"Sir, I was trying to catch Harry Potter and his dragon."

"Excuse me?"

"Harry Potter was getting rid of the oaf's dragon tonight. I was trying to catch him at it."

"Dragons are illegal Mr. Malfoy. Now, I want you to head back to your dormitory and in the morning, after breakfast, I want the truth."

"But -"

"Now!" Severus pointed in the direction of the Slytherin dorms and watched as he stormed off.

"Dragons. Honestly," muttered Severus under his breath.

The next morning, as Severus strode into breakfast, he eyed his Snakes. They were ordered to appear at every meal during the week, hungry or not.

As his eyes rested on Malfoy, he saw that he had a smug expression on his face.

When Severus caught his eye, he raised an eyebrow at him. Draco then nodded towards the house point counter in the Great Hall and Severus stared in disbelief.

Gryffindor had 150 points _less_ than yesterday.

Eyeing the Gryffindor table, he saw Potter, Granger, and Longbottom being ignored by the rest of their house mates.

Glancing at the staff table, he saw that Minerva was frowning and that Albus had a confused look on his face.

After breakfast, Draco appeared in his office with a note in his hand.

"My proof, sir."

Severus read it and shook his head in disbelief.

"Very well. The detention that you're serving with me will be on Monday. Report to me after dinner."

"I don't understand, sir. I just handed you the proof of my statements. Why are you still punishing me? It's bad enough, sir, that I have to serve McGonagall's detention."

"Professor McGonagall, Draco. Surely your father taught you respect. And you are being punished because not only did you break the rules but you were _caught_."

Draco thought for a moment then nodded. "I understand, sir."

* * *

That evening, after dinner, Severus appeared in Albus' office.

He was going to have a good time with this.

"Sherbert lemon drop?" offered Albus.

Going for the grand effect, he said, "Yes. Don't mind if I do."

He took the candy and was pleased to see a pleasant shock on the man's face. Severus was then even more pleased to realize that the Headmaster hadn't laced the candy yet.

"So, per chance, have you talked to Minerva or Hagrid today?"

Albus shook his head. "No. She wouldn't tell me why the house points dropped so drastically and now that I think on it, I've not seen Hagrid out and about for around 2 weeks. Did you come to find out about the sudden Gryffindor point loss ... or did you cause it?"

Severus smirked. "I didn't cause it, but I do know what happened."

Severus abruptly stood and fire-called for some tea from the kitchens. He let the Headmaster squirm while he made both of them a cup.

After taking a sip, Albus finally said, "Well?"

Severus smirked again.

He slowly raised his cup to take another drink as he said, "It seems that the reason Hagrid has been missing is because he has been taking care of Norbert. (Severus had eaves dropped on Hagrid's moping to catch the name.) And the reason that Gryffindor is 150 points less than yesterday is because Granger and Potter got rid of Norbert. I'm actually not sure how Longbottom fits in the picture," admitted Severus.

Albus raised one of his own eyebrows as he prepared to take a sip of his own tea. "Who - or what - is Norbert?"

As the Headmaster took a sip, Severus struck.

"His Norwegian Ridgeback dragon of course."

The Headmaster sputtered into his tea. "Dear Merlin. Really!"

Severus grinned. It wasn't often he got one over on Albus. He handed Albus the note Draco had presented to him and watched as he read it.

"My, my, and right under my very nose. That doesn't happen often." Albus had a bright twinkle in his eyes.

An hour later they parted ways but instead of going to bed, Albus headed up to the astronomy tower to fetch Harry's cloak, which he must have inadvertently dropped.

And sure enough, it was still there.

* * *

Author's Note:

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update. I'm still working on the story. I hit a bit of a writer's block for something in the second book but I've recently worked my way around it and will be starting on the third soon. (I like to keep a couple chapter's ahead of what I will be posting.)

Someone said that this is pretty much what was in the book's. I agree, some of it is, and some of it is different. I thought about starting out where Severus and Harry first found out about Lily's little secret (like most stories do) but decided I'd start at the beginning. There are some events that are different (one of which you'll be seeing in a chapter or two) to fit into my view of the Harry Potter world and some events are the same but just a different view point on them. Either way, I hope you all enjoy reading it. I know that I enjoy writing (even if I am slow to post lol)!

A/N: Warning, Harry will be powerful, but he won't be super powerful. He will still have to struggle with certain things as well as deal with other childhood issues. Harry is going to be incredibly smart, but don't worry about him out-doing Hermione ... to an extent anyway. (Evil smirk) And to alleviate some fears, he won't all of a sudden wake up and realize woah, I can take on the world! It will be a slow on going process. (Smile)

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far! They encourage me! (Grin)

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Some of what's written in the Sorcerer's Stone will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)


	32. Detention's and Exams

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 32

* * *

After losing all those house points, Harry was once again being stared at as whispers were starting to go on around him. It really bothered him but he took that time and threw himself into his studies even more than he had previously.

Quidditch had even lost some of it's thrill because the team would call him 'the seeker' as opposed to his name.

It was extremely annoying.

A week before exams were supposed to take place, Harry looked at Hermione, who was writing a foot longer than necessary on their History of Magic essay and asked a question that had bothered him for a while. "Why do you write so much more than what's required? I can understand an extra inch or two, but a foot?"

"If I know it, then I may as well let the teacher's know that I know so much. Hiding my knowledge would be rather stupid. Besides, I have to tie in all the extra information that I mentioned in passing."

Harry just shook his head and sighed at the brilliant witch sitting in front of him.

* * *

As Harry, Hermione, Neville, Draco, and Filch walked towards Hagrid's hut, they were trying to figure out _why_ their detention was at night and why it was outside.

It was at the point that Filch mentioned the Forbidden Forest that Draco started to complain and Harry heard quite clearly the fear in the blonde's voice.

Meanwhile, back at the castle in Dumbledore's office ...

"Albus, you've got to be out of your mind!" Severus exclaimed. "Four 1st years in the Forest at _night_! That's insane, even for you!"

"I think you underestimate the 4 of them. Besides, nothing will attack Hagrid or anyone that is with Hagrid in the Forest."

"That is beside the point. I agree with Severus. This is crazy." Minerva's mouth was pressed into a very thin line.

"Everything will be fine. I couldn't imagine that it would take more than an hour or two to find the unicorn."

"Why couldn't they have done this in the morning?"

"Because we all know that the aura of a unicorn is best sensed at night - not to mention it makes spotting the blood a tad easier while it's dark out."

"Just so you know, the Howler that I'm sure to get from Lucius is going to be directed straight to you."

"As is the one that I'm sure to receive from Longbottom's grandmother."

Albus winced at the thought of Augusta Longbottom. That woman was a force to be reckoned with.

* * *

Forty minutes later, Severus was still fuming at what Albus had given the students as a detention.

'What is the matter with him? Sure, he has a point about nothing attacking anyone with Hagrid but that doesn't make me feel much better.' Severus wished Lily was still here. She would have given Albus a piece of her mind. He actually grinned at the thought.

His musings, however, were interrupted by a slight twinge in his forearm for half of a second. He immediately flooed himself back to Albus' office and proceeded to stroll up to the second level to pound on the door to the Headmaster's quarters.

Behind him, he heard Fawkes give an irritated squawk.

* * *

At the same time Severus' arm twinged, Harry was staggering backwards into a tree trying to scurry away from a hooded figure with unicorn blood dripping from it's face.

His scar felt as if it was on fire.

Harry reached for his wand but once he drew it, he realized that while he could send a tickling jinx at it, it probably wouldn't work anyway. He suddenly realized that he really did not know any protection spells. At all.

Before he could do more than anything except stare at the approaching shadow, he got his first glimpse at a centaur as it drove the thing away.

* * *

_Bloody hell. So tonight during our detention to find a wounded unicorn, I met Voldemort ... of sorts._

_Snape wants the stone for Voldemort so that he can come back to life, in which point he'll probably come straight for me._

_After all, why let the boy-who-lived stay alive when killing him would prove his strength, even if I am only 11 years old._

Harry proceeded to write in intimate detail about his first experience into the Forbidden Forrest and also about the mysterious return of his invisibility cloak, which befuddled him as well.

* * *

_I swear Snape keeps turning up everywhere. I wonder if he knows that we know he's after the stone. I've been toying with the idea of going to a teacher, but I'm not sure that I'll be believed._

_I mean, everyone knows Snape hates me, though I've yet to determine why. It's very frustrating._

_Ugh. I should be studying or sleeping._

_H. Potter_

* * *

Two weeks before the end of June, exams began. O.W.L and N.E.W.T. students were ushered into special testing areas while the other students followed their exam schedule that had been given out by their head of houses.

All during the tests, Harry was jittery because he half expected Voldemort to come rushing into the room to kill him.

He had no trouble what-so-ever with his charms written or practical work, nor did he have any issues with his Defense written test. Since Quirrell never assigned practicals in class, there was no practical portion of the test, which Harry personally thought was stupid.

Tuesday had him sitting restlessly through his History of Magic and Transfiguration finals. He thought he had done all right on them but not perfect. Still, he'd be content if he passed them with the state of his nerves.

Wednesday afternoon consisted of his written astronomy test. During his midnight practicals, his eyes kept wandering over to the Forest, wondering where Voldemort was currently lurking at.

He barely finished his exam in time which left him feeling quite apprehensive about it.

Thursday found him in his Herbology exam which had a practical portion that involved de-bulbing and replanting a very stubborn cat-tail plant.

Friday was the day Harry dreaded the most. He figured that if Voldemort was stupid enough to barge in on any class, it would be during his Potions class.

His hand shook slightly during the written portion but he found he knew the answers easily enough. During the practical portion of the exam, he was pleased to note that he had managed to brew a somewhat decent Forgetfulness potion.

After he placed the completed potion on his professor's desk, he quietly cleaned up his area. As he was headed out the door, he saw Snape glare at him, so he glared defiantly back. Just as he reached the door, he heard a crash.

He turned towards the noise and saw Crabbe and Goyle by the desk and Harry saw his name on the cracked vial that currently lay on the floor with the potion seeping out.

He turned to look at Snape to see if he was going to say anything and when saw that he wasn't, he just glared even harder at the man before storming away.

After depositing their books back in their rooms, they went out to the lake for a while to relax. The last week of school had no official classes, so the time could be spent mostly as they saw fit. However, the final Quidditch game, Gryffindor VS Ravenclaw, was this up and coming week, so as soon as they sat down, that's what Ron started talking about.

* * *

During the week before exams, Severus decided to keep an eye on the brat discreetly. He used the invisibility charm on himself as Potter didn't seem to be able to detect those ... yet.

He rolled his eyes and nearly snorted when he had heard Granger answer Potter's question about essay length. He too could understand an extra inch or two but she wrote to the extremes. He had even taken to marking her down for the length of her essays but it never seemed to dissuade her. When she wrote, she sounded like a walking encyclopedia with facts and no depth to her answers what-so-ever.

The morning after Draco returned from his late night detention, Severus found himself storming back to Albus' office to yell at the Headmaster some more.

He noted that Minerva wasn't there. It seems that her Gryffindor's didn't tell her what happened in the Forest, which surprised him. Surely Precious Potter should have complained that he was attacked - at least Draco had said the thing went after both of them, and like the Slytherin he was - he ran to protect his sense of self.

During exam week, he would spy Potter absently wincing as he rubbed his scar. Actually, once he looked closer, he saw that the boy was jumpy and started rather easily. It was out of his character.

On Wednesday, he saw a boy accidentally drop a book near Potter. While Severus never saw the wand being drawn, the brat never-the-less had it in his hand a split second later.

During the Potions exam, he saw Potter shaking slightly. 'Maybe it's exam nerves.' Severus chuckled darkly as he thought, 'James Potter's son ... afraid of an exam.'

During the practical part, he watched as Crabbe and Goyle waited until Potter had cleaned up his station before knocking off his vial.

As soon as he had heard the crash, he saw the boy's wand drop into his hand from up his sleeve but noticed that he never pointed it.

He glared at the boy, who in turn glared back. He then watched as he strode out of the classroom, quite angry. As soon as he had stepped out of the room, he realized that the jars that had been shaking slightly along the walls suddenly stopped.

Severus turned and peered back at the door where Potter had just left, his eyebrow raised slightly.

* * *

Later after giving his final exam, he strode through the hallway in time to see Potter, Weasley, and Granger talking animatedly to McGonagall. She walked away looking slightly harassed.

Raising his eyebrow minutely, he edged his way towards the trio in time to hear, "Snapes going through the trap door tonight. He's found out everything he needs to know and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way."

Severus' other brow raised. 'Dammit, the brat is right!' He would need to watch the door closely to make sure Quirrell stayed away from it.

But first, he needed to discourage these three from going near the third floor corridor.

As he un-melded himself from the afternoon shadow's he heard Granger gasp.

"Good afternoon," he said smoothly.

He nearly laughed as they just stared at him dumb-foundedly.

"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," Severus said with an odd, twisted smile. "You want to be more careful, hanging around like this, people will think you're _up_ to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can it?"

Severus smirked at the flush that appeared on Potter's cheeks. "Be warned, Potter - any more night time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you."

He strode off in the direction of the staff room, hoping that that would keep the three away from the third floor corridor.

* * *

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Sorry for the update delay. I actually have most of the story through the CoS written (not typed yet though b/c I'm not quite happy with certain parts of it). I know right now, the story is still mostly canon, which is okay. I'm giving everyone different view points about what could have happened and why and I hope that that keeps everyone reading. I'm changing things here and there as I need for the my FF world hehe. Rest assured, I'm still writing. *points to the mess of notes all around me as proof*!

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Sorry for the update delay. I actually have most of the story through the CoS written (not typed yet though b/c I'm not quite happy with certain parts of it). I know right now, the story is still mostly canon, which is okay. I'm giving everyone different view points about what could have happened and why and I hope that that keeps everyone reading. I'm changing things here and there as I need for the my FF world hehe. Rest assured, I'm still writing. *points to the mess of notes all around me as proof*!


	33. Stones and Revelations

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 33

* * *

Up in the boy's dormitory that evening, Harry paced back and forth as he tried to explain to Ron and Hermione why he needed to get the stone before Snape did.

"Don't you understand? If Snape gets a hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! I seriously doubt there will be a Hogwarts to get expelled from. It will be turned into a school for Dark Arts. I don't think that we would be spared simply for the fact that we won the house cup."

"Harry, you'll get expelled!" exclaimed Hermione for the tenth time, seemingly ignoring what he just said.

"If I do, then the worst that will happen is that I'll get sent back to the Dursley's and then he'll go there and kill me. I refuse to be swayed to the Dark side and that's what Voldemort will try to do to everyone if he takes over."

Harry glared at his two best friends.

"That cloak should cover all three of us," commented Ron non-chalantly.

Harry did a double take. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, come off it. You don't think we'd let you go alone do you?"

"But then you two will be expelled as well if your caught. No. You can't."

Hermione grinned. "Then we won't get caught."

Harry and Ron exchanged looks that quite clearly said that they had created a monster.

Before they left, Harry thought of Hedwig and a few minutes later, his familiar flew in through the open common room window.

Harry tied the note that he had written to her leg then whispered to her, "Hedwig, that's for Professor Dumbledore. If we haven't returned by midnight, please take that to him."

She hooted that she understood but instead of flying away immediately, she perched herself on the back of a chair, listening to the three plan what they were going to do.

Finally, the common room emptied around 10pm, which really was early for a Friday night. Harry figured that it was because of the exhaustion caused by the exams. As they were leaving the room, Neville ambushed them. "You can't go out again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."

They argued for a few minutes when Harry finally shook his wand out of his sleeve then quickly aimed it at his other friend and said, "_Petrificus Totalus_."

"Harry what did you do?" demanded Ron as Harry leaned over to check on Neville where he had fallen.

"It's just the full body bind. We'll free him when we come back." Not wanting to leave Neville on the floor, he said, "_Mobilicorpus", _and levitated him to the couch.

Hermione nodded her approval. They donned the cloak and after making sure he had the flute that Hagrid had given him for Christmas, they quietly left the common room.

None of them saw Hedwig give an alarmed hoot and fly out the window to begin her journey towards the Ministry of Magic.

* * *

After dinner, Severus found himself in his office grading some of his exams. While he was working, there was a knock at the door. He had asked Quirrell to meet him at 8:00 pm and he had every intention on detaining him - by force if necessary - the whole night, or at least until Albus returned. He needed to keep him from that stone.

Just as he called, "Enter", the door swung open and Severus' world turned black.

When he woke, he found that he was silenced and bound. He also saw Quirrell staring at him quite gleefully.

"So sorry about that, Severus. Now, I know that you've somehow figured out who I'm working for and before I go and retrieve the stone for my master, I thought that I would make a pit stop to make sure that you didn't detain me, as I'm sure that's what you were planning to do. After all, I'm the one that wants the credit for giving the stone to my master. I'm the one that deserves the credit after all that I've done for him. You don't deserve the credit. You don't deserve anything. Ta! Ta! _Stupefy!_"

Stunned again, Severus lost consciousness.

As Quirrell left, he put a locking charm on the door to keep anyone from accidentally finding the unconscious potion's professor.

It was around 9pm before he was finally able to head to the 3rd floor undetected.

* * *

"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "I know what this is - it's Devil's Snare!"

"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," shouted Ron as he fought the plant still.

"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione. "I remember it likes dark and damp places -"

"So light a fire!" choked out Harry.

"Yes - of course - but there's no wood!"

"Have you gone mad?" Ron bellowed. "Are you a witch or not?"

"Oh, right!" Hermione conjured up a ball of flame and directed it to the middle of the plant and watched as it shrank away from Harry and Ron, who were also near the flame.

"Lucky you paid attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.

"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis - 'There's no wood', _honestly_!"

* * *

Hedwig was trying to fly as fast as she could towards London to deliver her letter. She knew that if she didn't fly fast, she would get there after midnight. As it was, she could sense her master in danger.

* * *

Dumbledore was currently sitting in on an impromptu Wizengamot meeting. It was running late, as most of them did. After all, a trial shouldn't be rushed.

That didn't mean he wasn't bored though, that and he had a horrible feeling in the back of his mind about something.

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just left the key room and had entered the chess room.

Harry eyed the room. They tried to cross but were met with resistance by the white chess pieces.

Ron eyed his surroundings. A person could smell the glee radiating from him. He touched one of the black knights and asked if they had to play their way across.

The piece nodded its head.

Harry looked at the piece. "Have you already played once tonight?"

The piece nodded again.

"The board must reset after the person steps off of it," said Hermione.

"Now, don't be offended or anything, but neither of you are that good at chess -"

"We're not offended," said Harry quickly as Hermione nodded in agreement. "Just tell us what to do."

* * *

Quirrell, having successfully solved Severus' riddle with the help of his master (who was slightly peeved at the moment) rearranged the bottles and tore up the note so that no one could follow.

Downing the potion, he stepped through the flames towards the next obstacle.

As soon as he cleared the other side of the fire, the note reappeared, the bottles righted themselves, and the little one refilled itself - just as it was spelled to do.

* * *

Back in Snape's office, Severus was still mostly unconscious but seemed to be slowly starting to awake.

* * *

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered as him and Hermione stepped around the massive troll. It was bigger than the one they met previously. "Come on, I can't breathe."

The smell was horrible.

As soon as they entered into the next room, purple and black flames sprung up.

"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry looked over her shoulder to read it.

"This is a puzzle," said Harry baffled slightly. It would take him ages to figure that out, _if_ he could even do it.

Then he noticed Hermione already looking over the bottles and saw her smiling. "A lot of the greatest wizard's haven't got an ounce of logic. They'd be stuck in here forever. It's brilliant."

Hermione rambled on for a few minutes before she picked up 2 vials. One to go forward and one to go back.

Hermione handed Harry the smallest bottle. "This will get you through the black fire - towards the stone."

"There's only enough here for one person to go through," commented Harry quietly.

"I'll take this one," she shook another vial, "to go back and find Professor McGonagall. I'm not sure how to get through the trapdoor though."

Harry grinned at her. "Use the brooms from the key room. As soon as you and Ron are underneath the door, play Fluffy to sleep."

Hermione grinned then threw herself into Harry's arms.

Flummoxed, Harry patted her slowly on the back.

"Harry please be careful," she said pulling herself away.

"I'll be fine Hermione. Go check on Ron and then go wait for Dumbledore. If he's not back soon, go to McGonagall. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but I'm really no match for him."

"What if You-Know-Who is with him?"

"Well, I was lucky once wasn't I?" He pointed to his scar. "Maybe I'll get lucky again."

She bit her lip then nodded. "You really are a great wizard you know." He opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off. "I'll hurry and check on Ron then go get help. You'll be fine. I have faith in you."

He eyed her warily and hoped she was right.

After she drank her vial and cleared the purple flame, he drank his and cleared the black.

* * *

Dumbledore eyed his watch. It was just after midnight. The trial had finally ended. He gathered his items and began heading out the door when a colleague hailed him.

Slowly, they walked through the ministry to head outside.

* * *

Harry opened the door then stood rigid, in shock.

It wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort.

It was Quirrell.

"_You!_" gasped Harry.

Quirrell smiled. His face wasn't twitching at all.

"Me," he said calmly. "I should have known you'd try to stop me from taking the stone."

"You? But I thought - Snape -"

"Severus?" Quirrell laughed. "Yes. Severus does seem the type, doesn't he. It was quite useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would ever suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"

Harry stood still, trying to wrap his mind around the situation.

"But Snape tried to kill me!"

Quirrell laughed again. "No, no, no. _I_ tried to kill you. Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Severus' robes during that Quidditch match. It, unfortunately, broke my eye contact with you." He huffed in irritation. "Another minute and I'd have had you off that broom. Even with Snape muttering his little counter-curse."

"Snape ... tried to save me?"

Quirrell then pointed his wand at Harry and conjured ropes which held him in place so that he couldn't escape.

* * *

As Albus left the ministry, Hedwig swooped down and landed on his shoulder. He immediately recognized her and felt his stomach drop. He quickly took the parchment off of her leg.

_Professor Dumbledore,_

_Professor Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. I know I'm not supposed to know about what it's guarding but I do. Other than Ron and Hermione, I've not told anyone._

_With you gone from the school, I'm afraid he's going to try to steal it tonight. We tried to tell Professor McGonagall but she didn't believe us._

_So we're going after it to keep Snape from getting it. While this is probably going to get us expelled, we're okay with that if it means Voldemort can't come back._

_I told Hedwig to deliver this if we're not back by Midnight. Please make sure everyone is okay. I doubt I can fend him off for very long so you may end up needing to come help us down in the chamber where you hid the stone._

_Harry Potter_

Dumbledore read the paper twice, tucked it in his robes, and hurried to the apparition point. He thanked Hedwig as she flew off.

Before he turned on the spot to return, he briefly realized that since Hedwig just got here and it only a few minutes after midnight, that that meant that she probably left just as they headed towards the Stone.

He grimaced as he vanished into darkness.

* * *

"Yes, he tried to save you ... among other things. But he won't be trying anything like that anymore."

Harry felt his stomach clench. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing permanent, I assure you. My master wouldn't let me. He was displeased I done anything at all." Quirrel turned his back on Potter to focus on the mirror. "But I'm the one who is to remain in his good graces - not him," he muttered so low that Harry didn't hear him.

Looking around now for the first time, Harry saw the Mirror of Erised. Quirrell was concentrating on it but he knew he couldn't let him.

"But Snape always seemed to hate me so much."

"Oh, he does. He was at Hogwarts with your father. They loathed each other." Quirrell walked around the mirror as Harry struggled to get out of his bindings. "Leave it to Dumbledore to use a mirror to hide the stone. Do I need to break it to get it out?"

* * *

Hermione had finally managed to rouse Ron. The chess set had yet to reset itself since Ron had still been lying on the board.

"Ron, stay here. I'm going to go find help."

"Wait, I'll go with you."

"No. If we both step off of this board, it will reset. While I'm sure Professor Dumbledore can bypass it without needing to play, I'm afraid I might have to bring another teacher down who won't be able to do the same."

Ron pondered that then nodded. He went and sat in the middle of the board.

As Hermione headed out the door, she put a piece of marble in place so that it wouldn't lock again. She didn't think she could manage to catch the key like Harry had done.

Eventually, she extracted herself past the sleeping three headed dog, which had not been easy while playing the flute simultaneously.

She ran towards the entrance hall first. If Dumbledore wasn't there, she would have to find McGonagalls's quarters. All she knew is that it was near her office.

Luckily though, Dumbledore ran in through the doors just as she reached the entrance hall.

Momentarily, his eyes saw relief when he first saw Ms. Granger. Then he realized that she was alone.

"Professor, Harry is down trying to get the -"

She was cut off as Dumbledore said, "He's still there? Go to the infirmary now. I'll go get him."

He took off towards the 3rd floor. Once there, he realized that the girl was still behind him.

"Ms. Granger, I thought I told you to head to the infirmary."

"I'm not hurt Professor. Besides, Ron is sitting on the chess board so it doesn't reset."

"I'll send him along when I get there. Tell Madam Pomfrey that two more will be joining you shortly."

She looked like she was about to protest but headed off in the direction of the hospital wing none-the-less.

* * *

"He lies!" The voice was cold and eerie.

"Tell me, Potter. What did you see?"

"Let me talk to the boy."

"But Master, you're not strong enough yet."

"I am strong enough - for this."

As Quirrell slowly unwrapped his turban, Harry ran through and quickly discarded a dozen escape scenarios. He had already somehow managed to get the stone, but now he saw no way out of the room.

And sadly, he knew no defense spells, thanks to his wonderful Defense professor. Harry mentally scowled.

He dropped his wand into his hand and yelled "_Petrificus Totalus!"_

He watched in horror as Quirrell easily deflected the spell even though he never paused to unwrap his turban.

Then to his greater horror, he saw what lay underneath.

* * *

Dumbledore ran into the chess room and true to Ms. Granger's word, Mr. Weasley was indeed sitting in the middle of the chess board.

"Professor!" he said standing up. "Harry ..."

"I know. I need you to leave. Head up to the hospital wing. Fluffy has been put into an enchanted sleep. Are you well enough to use a broom to fly through the trap door?"

Ron nodded.

"Good. Go on. I'm going to Harry."

Ron too looked like he was about to protest but changed his mind and left.

Albus then saw the troll knocked out and wondered briefly who done it as he ran through the room.

Once the fires sprung up, he murmured some Latin and the fires vanished.

As soon as he opened the last door, he stopped out of pure shock and horror at the scene before him.

Quirrell was pressed up against the wall, Voldemort was sticking out of the back of the Professor's head and was screaming, "Kill him! Kill him!"

And Harry had his hand in Quirrell's face, which was causing it to blister.

Albus saw that there was no fear in the boys eyes. Just sheer determination.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he raced forward just as he saw Harry starting to lose consciousness. He noticed then that while his eyes showed determination, his face was scrunched up in pure unadulterated pain.

"Harry! Harry!" He pried his hands off of Quirrell.

He immediately checked the boys pulse. To his horror, it wasn't there.

But then it was. It was faint, but present.

He turned and eyed Quirrell just as a shadowy form rose from his body and literally fled before Albus could cast a spell to catch it.

However, there was no mistaking who or what it had been. Another look at Quirrell showed that he was dead.

As he scooped Harry into his arms, he wondered how on earth he had missed Quirrell's possession.

Disillusioning Quirrell, Albus levitated the body behind him. As he entered the hospital wing, he heard Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley cry out.

"He's alive," he quickly reassured them.

"Albus, what on earth is going on?" the medi-witch, Poppy Pomfrey demanded to know.

"I'll tell you later. I need to go check on Severus."

Hermione looked up sharply when she heard that. "Professor Snape wasn't trying to steal the stone. He was one of it's protector's. It was Professor Quirrell that was after it."

Hermione gasped as Ron groaned.

"Albus ... _this_ stone?" asked Poppy as she handed it to the Headmaster.

Dumbledore's eyes glinted in amusement. "Harry managed to get it? Well ..."

He took the stone, placed Quirrell on a bed and directed the drapes around it. He explained what was behind the curtain quietly to Madam Pomfrey then he rushed off after excusing himself again to go find Severus.

After searching Severus' quarter's, he headed towards his office. He discovered a different locking ward from what was normally used, therefore he assumed that Severus was inside.

Disabling it, he rushed in and was met by a very irate looking, bound, and silenced Severus Snape.

With a wave of Albus' wand, everything was removed.

"Albus, Quirrell is going after the stone."

"It's alright. Harry stopped him."

Severus froze mid-step. "Pardon me?"

"Let's get you to Madam Pomfrey then we can talk."

"I'm fine Albus. Is the boy okay?"

"He's alive. Let's go to your quarters. I could use a drink and I'm sure you could as well."

He eyed the Headmaster warily but agreed. They used the floo network.

After the drinks were made, Albus began talking.

"I don't know all the details. I was worried about you. I knew that if you weren't around that something was wrong. So until I question all 3 children, I can only guess what happened."

"Three?" Severus groaned. "Are the other two alright and what did you mean earlier when you said that Ha-Potter was alive?"

Albus let him read the note that Hedwig had brought first.

"He thought he could fend me off?" Severus snorted. "Why didn't Minerva believe them?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll ask her in the morning."

They talked for a while. Albus then headed back to check on everyone else.

* * *

The next day, he managed to talk to Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley about all they knew.

Severus hid himself from the two as he listened in.

All that was left was for Potter to wake up so that he could bask in all his glory for what he had somehow managed to do.

Severus was still having a hard time comprehending that he had managed to survive the Dark Lord a second time.

But there was no denying it because less than 3 feet away from the snarky Potions Master lay an unconscious but very much alive, Harry Potter.

* * *

A/N: Warning, Harry will be powerful, but he won't be super powerful. He will still have to struggle with certain things as well as deal with other childhood issues. Harry is going to be incredibly smart, but don't worry about him out-doing Hermione ... to an extent anyway. (Evil smirk) And to alleviate some fears, he won't all of a sudden wake up and realize woah, I can take on the world! It will be a slow on going process. (Smile)

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far! They encourage me! (Grin)

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Some of what's written in the Sorcerer's Stone will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)


	34. End of Year One

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Sorcerer's Stone book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

* * *

Chapter 34

* * *

Something gold was glinting just above him. The Snitch! He tried to catch it, but his arms were heavy.

He blinked. It wasn't the Snitch at all. It was a pair of glasses. How strange.

He blinked again. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view above him.

"Good afternoon, Harry," said Dumbledore, as he handed Harry his glasses.

Harry stared at him for a minute then everything rushed back to him. "Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! You need to check Professor Snape too, he said he hurt him! Hurry -"

"Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times," said Dumbledore. His eyes showed slight pride that one of the first things out of his mouth had been to check on Severus. "Quirrell does not have the stone."

Harry was puzzled. "Then who does? Sir, I -"

"Harry, please relax or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out."

It was then that he took a look around at his surroundings. He realized that he was in the hospital wing.

Albus saw Harry's gaze fall on the pile of candy at the foot of his bed on the bedside table.

"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming. "What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows."

He chuckled when he heard Harry groan.

"I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."

"How long have I been in here?"

"Three days. Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come round. They have been extremely worried."

"Ron? Hermione? Are they okay? Are you sure Professor Snape is okay? Is Quirrell okay? The stone -"

"Harry, calm down. I'll answer what questions I can for you and if I can't, I'll tell you so, but I will not lie."

Harry nodded.

"First, yes, your friends are safe and unharmed, as is Professor Snape. As for Quirrell, when Voldemort left his body, he died." He saw Harry's eyes go downcast. "That just goes to show you that he treats his followers just as ruthlessly as his enemies. As for the stone, it has been destroyed."

"But won't your friend Nicolas Flamel die?"

Albus eyes twinkled. "Oh, you know about Nicolas? You did do the thing properly didn't you? But to answer your question, yes, he and his wife will die."

They talked for nearly an hour. Harry told the Headmaster all that had happened.

"Sir, did you get Hedwig? Is that how you knew to come back?"

Dumbledore nodded. "She's a brilliant owl, Harry. It normally takes something extraordinary to make one fly with such speed. If she had been a minute or two later, I feared that I wouldn't have gotten to you. As it was, I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off you -"

"It was _you_!"

"I feared I might have been too late."

"You nearly were. I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer -"

"Not the Stone, boy, you - the effort involved nearly killed you. For one moment, I thought it had."

They talked for another few minutes then as Dumbledore stood to leave, Harry felt a surge of his Gryffindor's courage flow through him.

"Sir, I was wondering if it would be possible for me to stay here at Hogwarts over the summer? I would even be willing to help Mr. Filch clean the castle. I'll do a good job and I'll behave. I promise."

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly and stroked his beard. He knew that the boy never returned home for any of the holidays.

"Surely your aunt and uncle miss you. You've not seen them for 10 months."

"I doubt it sir."

His eyes narrowed even more. "I'm sorry Harry. Students aren't allowed to stay at Hogwarts during the summer."

"Oh, okay." He then thought about his owl's safety. "Would it be alright if Hedwig remained here during the summer? My ... er ... aunt doesn't like birds. If not, I'll see if Ron or Hermione can watch her for me."

He pondered that question. "It would be alright for her to stay here. You would be unable to send messages to your friends unless your owl would happen to fly by to check up on you."

"I understand sir. Thank you very much." He smiled at the headmaster.

As he left, Ron and Hermione came in and he, yet again, recounted his adventure to them.

* * *

Albus wandered absent mindedly through the hallways. Before he realized where his feet had led him, he was at Severus' office.

"Come in."

Albus conjured up a cushy arm chair after he locked the door. "Mr. Potter woke up this afternoon."

"Oh?" Severus raised his eyebrow as he looked up from what he was doing.

"Yes. And would you know that one of the first things out of his mouth was him asking about your welfare?"

"I beg your pardon?" Severus sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"It seems Quirrell told Harry that he had done something to you and he wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Marvelous. The boy-who-lived is concerned about me." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Albus chuckled. They discussed Harry's account of what happened.

"How did I miss the possession Severus?"

"The same way I did, I gather. I just assumed he was working for the Dark Lord, not possessed by him. That certainly makes everything we've said around him shine in a new perspective. Quirrell must have had some control though because otherwise the Dark Lord would have wanted all the help he could get and I was summarily stunned because Quirrell wanted the credit for himself."

Albus nodded in agreement with his Potions Master.

* * *

The feast had just ended and everyone would be leaving after breakfast tomorrow morning, so almost all of the students headed towards their dorms to pack. Harry, however, excused himself from Ron and Hermione and headed down to Professor Snape's office.

He started to knock on the door but then froze. 'You're a Gryffindor, you can do this,' he thought. He then knocked before he could back out of the venture.

"Enter."

Harry slowly opened the door, stepped in, closed it, then stood very still while waiting to be recognized. He knew that the professor would be in here. Most of the teachers had left before dinner was over.

Severus looked up and was surprised to see Potter standing before him. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Can I help you? Did you come to gloat over your win?"

"No sir, nothing like that. I'm sorry to bother you, but I wanted to apologize to you."

"For what?" Severus quickly thought back and tried to figure out what the brat was about to apologize for.

"For thinking it was you going after the Stone. I also wanted to thank you for saving my life while I was on the broom. I could feel two pulls of magic while I was hanging on. At the time, I never really thought about it, but after Quirrell told me one was him and that you were performing a counter curse, I realized that it was you who kept me on the broom." Harry noticed he was babbling so he quickly closed his mouth.

Of all the things he expected to come out of Potter's mouth, it had not been _that_. "You could _feel_ both pulls of magic Mr. Potter?"

"Yes sir. I apologize and thank you again Professor Snape. I'm also glad Quirrell didn't hurt you. Have a good summer."

And with that, Harry slipped out of the door and headed towards the owlery. He needed to talk to Hedwig about staying at Hogwarts over the summer.

* * *

About two hours after dinner, Severus wandered into the staff room and handed Albus everyone's grades, then placed himself gracefully in a chair. Surprisingly, Filius was late.

"Sorry about that, was distracted," he commented in an off handed manner.

After the meeting, Severus approached Albus. "I thought you might like to know that your Golden Boy came and apologized to me after dinner tonight for believing that I was after the stone and thanked me for saving his life during that Quidditch match."

"Did he now?" Albus twinkled at him quite merrily.

"I also thought you'd be interested to know that he confessed to me that during the broom episode, he actually _felt_ both pulls of magic."

Albus coughed. "He did?"

Severus smirked. He had caught the Headmaster off guard again. He believed that he could get used to doing that. "Yes, he did. He seemed unconcerned by it too. I gathered that he thought that it was _normal_ to be able to feel such things."

"Dear Merlin ..."

"Naturally, I didn't correct him. After all, we wouldn't want his head to become any more swelled than it already is."

With that said, Severus stalked off back to his quarters, effectively leaving Albus to his musings and to sort everyone's grades - magically, of course.

* * *

At breakfast the next morning, grades were handed out. Harry warily opened the envelope with his name on it.

He slowly perused the paper.

Astronomy - A

Charms - E

Defense Against the Dark Arts - O

Herbology - E

History of Magic - A

Potions - E

Transfiguration - A

Harry simply stared at his potions grade and wondered how _that_ had happened. He had a sneaking suspicion Dumbledore had something to do with it and was not sure how he felt about that.

"How did you do Harry? I got an Outstanding in everything."

"What? Oh, congrats. I passed everything." Harry folded his letter up and placed it in his robe. He didn't want to show anyone his grades.

As he made his way down to the station in Hogsmeade, he briefly wondered about his defense grade but shrugged it off.

"Harry!"

Harry turned and saw Hagrid coming his way.

"Just wanted ter give this to yah. I spent this pas' week workin' on it. 'Course I shoulda been sacked."

Harry took the book and when he opened it, he saw pictures of his mom and dad.

"I knew yeh didn' have any pictures so I sent an owl off ter all yer parents' friends."

Harry hugged Hagrid extremely tight. "Thank you Hagrid. This is wonderful!"

Hagrid shooed him onto the train.

Once in a carriage with Ron and Hermione, he slowly flipped through the book and grinned.

Hedwig was currently hooting in her open cage. She was going to fly back to the castle once they got to the platform.

Halfway there, Harry put his cousins baggy clothes on and stored his wizarding stuff in his trunk. (He missed the looks of surprise that Ron and Hermione gave him at how big his clothes were.) He made sure he placed the envelope with his grades in it inside of a book. It also listed his summer homework on the back of the parchment.

It was a decent amount.

They eventually arrived at Kings Cross.

As they exited through the wall, Ron said, "You have to come stay this summer - both of you. I'll send you an owl."

"Thanks," said Harry. "I'll need _something _to look forward to."

As people were walking past them, they kept saying bye to Harry.

"Still famous," said Ron, grinning at him.

"Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Harry.

"Ready are you?"

Harry repressed a shudder. Turning he saw his Uncle looming over head while his aunt and cousin hovered nearby.

"You must be Harry's family!" said Mrs. Weasley.

Vernon eyed the red haired woman and chose to ignore her. "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day."

Harry sighed. "Coming Uncle Vernon."

"Where's your bloody pigeon?"

"My owl is staying at the school over the summer."

"Very well. Let's go. Dudder's is hungry."

Harry turned to wave at his friends and saw concern on everyone's face. "Have a good summer guys. I know I'm going too."

Hermione looked at him questioningly.

"They don't know that I'm not allowed to do magic over the summer. I'm going to have some fun with Dudley these next two months."

As he left, he heard the twins laughing.

* * *

A/N: I've actually finished hand writing all the way through Prisoner of Azkaban and I've gotten most of the Chamber of Secret's typed up so hopefully I'll be able to update more soon. As it is, I am uploading one more chapter before I go off and start my day's work ... not to mention find some note's that I've made in this mess of paperwork. hehe 


	35. Missing Friends and Thoughts

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 35

* * *

No sooner had Harry arrived back at Privet Drive than did his uncle lock all of his belongings up in the cupboard under the stairs - except for his wand. That he had hidden on himself.

"Uncle Vernon, I'll need my things because I was given a lot of homework over the summer! I won't be able to do it with my books locked up."

Vernon turned, slightly red in the face with a mad gleam in his eyes that Harry didn't really care for very much. "You won't have time to do any funny business this summer. There are things that need doing around the house that _you_ will do!"

Harry opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by his cousin, Dudley, shoving him out of the way. Picking himself up off the ground, he sighed and headed up towards his bedroom.

The next couple of weeks passed by very slowly for Harry. For the first few days he had enjoyed mumbling nonsense words under his breath in an effort to make Dudley scramble from the room as fast as his legs would carry him.

However, even that got boring after a while, especially since he had no one to share his fun with.

Hermione and Ron had not written to him once so far and it became very depressing. He had written a couple letters to both, but no matter how hard he concentrated on calling Hedwig, she never came.

"Boy, get down here and wash these dishes!"

"Coming Aunt Petunia," Harry called back as he got up from his cot in the corner of the room.

As he was walking across the floor, his foot stepped on a plank that creaked. He made a mental note to inspect it later.

* * *

"You know he is Severus. It's high time that he is replaced," muttered Lucius from behind his drink.

Severus smirked. "I agree. There are times when I despair having even to talk to the man, but I do what I need to do."

Lucius nodded knowingly.

They were currently at Malfoy Manor having a drink in the parlour. Lucius, having heard the rumours of the Dark Lord's attempt to return to body had called Severus over for dinner. It was his way of finding out what he could, so for the past hour Severus was grilled on the events, which he had only partially shared. The talk had recently turned to the Headmaster.

"I think this year will be good for us all. I have plans this year. Plans that will change quite a few things ..."

Severus raised an eyebrow.

Lucius grinned. "No, I'm not sharing. Let's just say that this year will be a year to remember."

Severus raised his glass in salute. "I look forward to it then."

* * *

"Percy, can I _please_borrow Hermes?" begged Ron to his older brother.

Percy glared. "Absolutely not. I need Hermes. Use Errol."

Ron glared right back. "I think he's getting lost and losing the mail. He keeps coming back empty handed!"

"No Ron. Hermes is mine. Now go away!" With that said, the door was shut in Ron's face. He stormed off down the stairs.

* * *

It was a couple days after Harry had stepped on that loose floor board that he finally remembered to check it out. He carefully climbed out of bed and sat in the floor.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that he could probably pull it up. So he tried. It took him about 5 minutes to dislodge it. When he did, he looked down and grinned at the hollowed out area.

It seemed he just found himself a secret compartment.

* * *

_July 21, 1992_

_It bother's me about what Quirrell said about Snape and my dad. I know Dumbledore said that Snape saved me because my dad had saved his life but that doesn't seem like the whole story._

_I guess that means that Snape hates me because I look like my dad. I don't even know why this bother's me so much ... but it does._

_Maybe I can show him I'm my own person somehow._

_I just wish I knew what their history was like._

_-Harry_

* * *

_July 28__th__, 1992_

_I've started having the dreams again. The same blinding green light. Sometimes I can feel myself being hugged by someone. No matter how hard I strain my memory though, I can't see who it is._

_Aunt Petunia has been watching me closely. I wonder if she remembers mom not being able to do magic over the holidays._

_I certainly hope she doesn't._

_-Harry_

* * *

A/N: It's just a little chapter but it's a chapter! I'm finding the summer months a pain to write so far! I'm off to hunt down stray notes that I know I made but can't seem to locate. 


	36. Small Revelations

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

A/N: I'm going to start deviating some but for the most part, the next few chapter's will follow the Chamber of Secrets.

* * *

Chapter 36

* * *

Severus was working in his lab when he heard a knock at the door. He cast a revealing charm and saw that it was the Headmaster.

"Am I interrupting you Severus?" asked the Headmaster as he opened the door.

"I'm almost finished. Did you need something?"

"Oh, not too much. I was mostly just curious as to whether you were still alive. No one's seen you for about 3 days, including the castles' elves," Albus said nonchalantly.

Startled, Severus looked up. "Three days?"

Albus chuckled. "I figured you were on one of your brewing binges." He, however, sobered quickly. "What's bothering you Severus? Why have you shut out the world this time?"

Severus turned a withering glare towards the Headmaster. "Give me about five minutes to finish bottling a few things then I'll meet you in my quarters."

Albus nodded and left the potion laboratory.

Five minutes later, Severus entered his quarter's to find Albus sitting in front of the fire place drinking tea. A cup had been made for him as well. He also saw that the Headmaster had set up the chess board.

Albus didn't beat around the bush. "What's wrong Severus?"

Severus sighed as he moved one of the pawns on the chessboard. "Nothing is wrong." At the Headmaster's incredulous look, he continued. "I've just been trying to figure out what Lucius is up to. He's been in an awfully good mood lately, and with that new law that is threatening to pass, it seems way out of his character."

Albus frowned thoughtfully. "Don't overwork yourself because of this. What's coming will come and we'll weather it out."

Severus glared at the Headmaster. "That is _such_ a Gryffindor thing to say."

The Headmaster chuckled.

They were almost finished with their game when Albus casually mentioned, "I finally got Minerva to tell me what her and Filius were whispering about."

Severus grinned smugly as he said "check" then quirked an eyebrow up at the Headmaster.

Albus eyed the board in frustration. He and Severus were actually pretty well matched when it came to chess, however he didn't realize that Severus had snuck his queen into a position to pounce and it seemed that he couldn't prevent it from happening.

Acknowledging defeat, he captured one of Severus remaining pawns then as the potion's master declared "checkmate!", he produced a list of spells and handed them over.

"It seems that young Harry made a calendar. Those are the spells he used to do so."

Severus took the list. "All this fuss over a measly calen-..." He trailed off. "Albus, there are spells on here well above the first year level, including a seventh year spell. Surely the boy had help."

Albus chuckled. "Minerva watched him do it alone with her own eyes, at the beginning of the school year in fact. Also, during one of Filius's charm practicals, he turned the entire floor into a cushion and when asked, said he didn't feel as if he put much power behind the spell at all."

Severus pondered something briefly for a few minutes in silence before asking, "Does he realize how powerful he is?"

Albus shook his head no. "I don't believe so."

"Well don't tell him. Merlin forbid his ego inflated head become even more swelled."

In an uncharacteristic move, Albus rolled his eyes. Then he got a mischievous glint in them. "I must say, I was quite impressed with the grade that you gave him."

Severus blanked his face. "I assure you that I have no idea what you mean."

The Headmaster chuckled as he stood to return to his quarter's.

* * *

Albus was currently in his office doing some paper work. Actually, he was pretending to do his paper work. His mind was elsewhere.

Ever since the night he heard the prophecy, then sadly, watched part of it come to fruition, he realized that he would eventually have to tell Harry about it.

He was disturbed when one of the first questions out of the boy's mouth in the infirmary was him asking why Voldemort came after him to start with.

Albus knew that he needed to tell the boy, but decided that 11 was too young to know. He would let him remain a child a little longer.

The sudden flare of floo powder in his fireplace brought him out of his musings.

"Arabella, what a surprise! Is everything okay?"

Arabella Figg shook her head. "I'm sorry to bother you Albus but my sister in Germany is sick, so I'm going to be gone for the next couple of weeks to visit her."

Albus nodded. "Alright. Be safe and I hope your sister get's well."

She said goodbye and her head vanished from the fireplace. Albus sighed. He abandoned all attempts at paperwork and headed up the stairs to bed.

* * *

Severus was currently in his library reading. His mind would occasionally drift off to what Albus had revealed and to the brat's apology.

He couldn't wrap his mind around those spells that the boy had used. He didn't have a doubt that Lily could most likely have performed them at that age, but she had obtained one of her masteries in charms after graduation. She was a natural at the subject.

Combine that thought with the apology that was given and he realized that maybe there was more Lily than James in the boy after all.

Of course, at the thought of James, he immediately assumed that the boy was at home, right that very minute basking in all his glory as he no doubt told his aunt and uncle all about how he won the house cup.

* * *

Just as Severus was thinking those thoughts, Harry was currently musing over the fact that Snape would probably die from laughter at seeing the boy who lived now.

He was currently covered in paint, soil, sweat, and grease.

"What a way to spend my birthday," he muttered morosely as his aunt called him inside to eat a cheese sandwich - which was to be his dinner.

* * *

Albus was currently having a chat with Fawkes, his phoenix, when a ministry owl flew in through his window.

He recognized that it was carrying a letter telling him that a student had done magic over the summer holiday's. He'd received many of these over the years.

Sighing, he opened it up to see who the offender was this time. He frowned when he realized that it was Harry. However what confused him was that it just said that magic was sensed there, not that he had done it. But seeing as how he was the only magical person within about a 10 mile radius, the Headmaster couldn't come up with any other person it could be.

He added the report to his desk then resumed his conversation with his familiar. He would need to tell Minerva so that she could remind him of the rules regarding magic use over the summer.


	37. Rescues and Arrivals

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

A/N: Sorry for the format of the schedule. I had to get around the table issue that fanfiction has.

* * *

Chapter 37

_August 3__rd__, 1992_

_The bruises are almost gone where Dudley pushed me down the stairs a few days ago but I'm still sore._

_I'm also very hungry. Only being fed soup once a day is starting to take it's toll on me._

_I wonder when I don't show up on the 1__st__, if anyone will come to find out why._

_I wonder if I'll still even be alive then. Dobby, the house elf that set off the under age magic detector, may have saved me from whatever bad thing is going to happen at Hogwarts, but at this rate, I'm going to die here._

_-Harry_

Harry quickly shoved the muggle notebook and pencil in the hole he found under the floor board. As soon as he sat back down, his aunt unlocked the bedroom door to let him out to use the restroom.

* * *

Fred came up behind Ron. "Heard from Harry yet?"

Ron shook his head. "I'm worried about him. While he never came out and said anything bad about those muggles he lives with, I know he didn't want to go home."

George frowned.

"They didn't even send him any Christmas presents last year nor write to him once as far as I know."

Ron watched as the twins exchanged a look.

"How would you like to - "

"Go rescue Harry, little brother?"

Ron grimaced. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to end up grounded for a year?"

The twins just chuckled as Eroll came flying through the window with a letter in his beak.

* * *

_August 5__th__, 1992_

_I'm at the Burrow. Ron, Fred, and George came and rescued me with a flying car last night. I was embarrassed that they had to see the bars on the window, but at least I'm out of there._

_Hedwig is even here. She flew in through the window before I went to bed last night. I was extremely happy to see her. I reckon Dobby had prevented her from coming to me when I called before._

_Looking around the Burrow, I'm amazed at how everything is. It all seems to be guided by magic. It does make me wonder if I had grown up with my parents, if my home would have looked like this. I guess I'll never know._

_I realize now that being made to live in a cupboard all my life was not normal. I guess I've known that all along but being here really cements it. Now that I'm in Dudley's second bedroom though, there really isn't any need to tell anyone._

_Ron's stirring so I need to go._

_-Harry_

Harry placed his journal inside his trunk and closed the lid just as Ron sat up.

"Morning Harry."

"Morning Ron."

"Boy's! Get up! Breakfast is ready!"

Later that morning, booklists were delivered along with a letter from Hermione.

* * *

"I'm gonna hafta get some slug repellant, professor," stated Hagrid as he offered his rock cakes to the Headmaster.

"Are they in the school's cabbages again?"

"Aye."

"You might see if Pomona needs anything. I know that she finally got some Mandrake seedlings in."

Hagrid nodded. The Herbology professor had been ecstatic when the seedlings arrived.

* * *

Harry was highly annoyed and in the few short minutes he met Gilderoy Lockhart, he realized the man was an idiot.

After he had handed Ginny his "free" books, he set off through the bookstore with Ron and Hermione to get his own books. Hagrid had deposited Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy outside for fighting, which Ron was still talking about in gleeful tones.

Having got all of the new texts, Harry then picked up a couple extra books on defense, charms, and potions - the latter of which made Ron gag - much to his and Hermione's amusement.

Harry just grinned and cuffed him lightly upside his head.

After they had finished in Diagon Alley gathering all of their school supplies, they flooed back to the Burrow.

Harry came to the conclusion as he was picking himself up off the floor that he hated traveling by floo (at least he had came out at the right place this time). So, he decided that once he got to Hogwarts, he would look up other means of travel.

A couple days later, Harry sat down to do his summer homework (decided by the fact that it was raining outside and Mrs. Weasley wouldn't let them play Quidditch in the storm). He knew Snape would give him detention for a month if he showed up with his summer homework not completed.

"Aren't you going to do yours Ron?"

Ron looked up from the latest issue of Quidditch Illustrated and mumbled something.

"What?"

"Mom made me do it the first week I was home. I was annoyed with her, but at least I don't have to worry about it now."

Harry nodded. Just then Mrs. Weasley came into the living room and frowned. "Haven't you done your homework yet Harry?"

Harry squirmed a little bit. "No ma'am. My aunt and uncle wouldn't ... er ... don't like magic so I couldn't do it there but I plan on getting it done now."

She narrowed her eyes at his mid-sentence change, clucked her tongue, and left the room.

About half way through his Herbology homework, he noticed that Ginny had come into the room. She was currently sitting in a corner, writing in a book. She looked up and saw that Harry was watching her and proceeded to knock about 3 things off of the nearby table as she turned beet red. Harry noticed that happened a lot when he was around her and it baffled him.

The night before they were scheduled to return to Hogwarts found the Weasley house in what Harry could only call organized chaos.

People were running up and down the stairs, random explosions were going off in the twin's room, people were hunting for odd socks, and the ghoul in the attic would bang on the pipes if it suddenly got too quiet. It was a tad bit overwhelming for Harry.

The next morning was just as hectic, which is why they were nearly late for the train.

With one minute left to board, Harry and Ron were perplexed when the barrier shut early.

"What are we going to do Ron?" asked Harry as he picked himself up off the ground.

"I don't know. Why can't we get through?" Ron was patting the wall where the gateway should be.

Harry looked at the clock. It was 11:01 am. The train had already left.

"Let's go wait by the car," suggested Harry. People were gawking at Hedwig and Scabbers.

Suddenly Ron's eyes went wide. "The car ..."

* * *

Albus was getting ready to head down to the usual pre-term staff meeting when his floo flared.

"Albus ..."

"Hello Molly. What's wrong?"

"It seems Harry and Ron missed the train to Hogwarts..."

"What?"

"We were running late but we got there with a couple minutes to spare - they were supposed to be right behind us - and the car's gone ..."

Albus looked baffled. "Car?"

Molly huffed. "You know Arthur and his need for tinkering with muggle things. He enchanted it to fly and we believe that the boys took it when they couldn't get through the barrier."

Albus sighed. "Alright Molly. We'll keep an eye out for them. Hopefully they thought to send some form of communication ahead. I'll let you know when they arrive."

"Thank you Albus."

This is not looking to be a good start to the school year.

* * *

"Have you guys seen Harry and Ron? I can't seem to find them." asked Hermione as she found the twins in a compartment with Lee Jordan and Alicia Spinnet.

Fred (at least she thought it was Fred) looked up. "Nope. They could be at the far end."

"I've already searched there," said Hermione as she pushed her hair out of her face.

George frowned. "Well they have to be on here somewhere. Maybe their in one of the bathrooms."

"Maybe," said Hermione but she looked uncertain.

"If we see them, we'll tell them you're looking for them," said Fred.

Hermione nodded and headed back towards the cabin she had put her stuff in.

* * *

"Of all the tree's we could have hit, we _had _to hit the one that hits back," muttered Harry as he stared at the car as it drove into the Forbidden Forest.

"My wand, Harry. Look at my wand."

Harry glanced over at Ron holding his nearly snapped wand. "Be glad it wasn't your neck. Let's go."

* * *

Severus was currently lurking in the shadows as he patrolled outside looking for Potter and Weasley. When the Headmaster had told him what Molly had said, he became worried, not that he would ever admit that of course.

However, by the time the evening prophet had arrived, Severus had become furious.

'No doubt this is just some stunt to boost his popularity - like he did with Lockhart.' When Severus had saw _that_ photo in the paper he went on another tirade about him being just like his father. Albus had actually sent a silencing hex at him - not that it had hit him, but he had sent it none the less.

As he came back around to the castle's front doors, he spied Potter and Weasley looking through the window. Stalking closer, he saw that both of them looked relatively unhurt.

"Maybe he's ill," said Ron hopefully.

Harry scowled at the red head. He hoped not. The man _did_ save his life last year. "Maybe he left when he missed out on the Defense Against the Dark Arts job _again_!"

Snape chuckled in his head.

"Maybe he was sacked," commented Ron even more hopefully.

Harry rolled his eyes then started.

"Or maybe," said a very cold voice right behind them, "he's waiting to hear why you two didn't arrive on the school train."

Harry spun around, wand in hand - mostly as a reflex - to see Severus Snape, black robes billowing behind him.

"Follow me," snarled Severus.

Harry and Ron exchanged a look that said they were in deep trouble.

The next morning at breakfast, Harry found out what a Howler was. Feeling ashamed that they were causing an inquiry for Mr. Weasley, Harry found that he couldn't finish his food.

Even Ron had shoved his plate away.

A few minutes later McGonagall walked up to the second years. Her lips were pressed in a thin line, letting Harry know she was still upset with them.

"At the bottom of your schedules is the reminder of your free periods and where to go during them. Later in the year, I will be calling on you to discuss preparations for the next year."

After she had moved onto the third years, Harry looked down at his schedule.

Time ... Monday ... Tuesday ... Wednesday ... Thursday ... Friday

6:00 - 7:45 am ... Breakfast ... - ...- ... - ...-

8:00 - 9:00 am ... Herbology ... Potions ... Herbology ... Potions ... Free Period

9:00 - 9:15 am ... Break ... - ... - ... - ... -

9:15 - 10:15 am ... Charms ... Potions ... Herbology ... Free Period ... Charms

10:15 - 10:30 am ...Break ... - ... - ... - ... -

10:30 - 11:30 am .. Free Period ... Free Period ... Transfiguration ... Free Period ... Free Period

11:30 - 12:45 pm ... Lunch ... - ... - ... - ... -

1:00 - 2:00 pm ... DADA ... Free Period ... DADA ... Charms ... DADA

2:00 - 2:15 pm ... Break ... - ... - ... - ... -

2:15 - 3:15 pm ... History of Magic ... Transfiguration ... History of Magic ... Transfiguration ... History of Magic

3:15 - 3:30 pm ... Break ...- ... - ... - ... -

3:30 - 4:30 pm ... Astronomy ... Free Period ... Free Period ... Free Period ... Astronomy

5:00 - 7:00 pm ... Dinner ... - ... - ...- ... -

*Free Periods: Students are not permitted to roam the corridor's. They may use the study hall, be in their common room's, or be in the library.

He sighed as he stood to go get his books. Since Ron wasn't hungry anymore, he followed.

Later that night, after classes, Harry unpacked (since he didn't get to it the night before) and remade his calendar. After he placed it on the wall, he threw himself down on his bed and fell into unconsciousness, therefore missing the wide-eyed look Neville gave him as he performed a few of the spells.


	38. Murmur's

A/N: I don't own anything. I'm just playing with them! =)

* * *

Chapter 38

* * *

Severus was in a foul mood. Not only did Potter escape severe punishment, but Lockhart was an imbecile.

The man kept going on and on about some Phantom in Pledging he done away with. Severus was of the conclusion that if Lockhart had actually done it himself, he would eat a whole bag of Albus' sherbert lemon drops.

The headmaster had simply laughed at him.

It was at breakfast that an owl arrived. Blanking his face, he quickly and silently cast a couple of spells to make sure that nothing untoward was on the parchment.

Determining it was safe, he opened it.

What he read made him want to curse something.

Lucius was making a donation to the Slytherin Quidditch team in the form of Nimbus 2001's - in exchange for his son taking up as the Slytherin seeker.

During schedule handout, he informed Draco to come to his office before dinner.

* * *

Harry was sleeping soundly without any nightmares, the first time in a while actually, when he was suddenly shaken awake.

"Whassa-matter?"

"Up Potter. Come on. Get up!"

Harry opened his eyes and saw a very blurry Oliver Wood staring at him. "What's wrong Oliver?"

"Practice. Be down in the locker rooms in thirty minutes."

Squinting, Harry watched Oliver walk out of the room then rolled over to reach for his glasses.

* * *

Harry scowled at Malfoy when he realized that the blonde was the new Slytherin seeker.

"At least the Gryffindor's didn't have to buy their way onto the team. _They_ got in on pure talent," stated Hermione.

"No one asked you, you filthy little mudblood."

Before Harry could figure out what that meant, Ron had tried to hex Draco, but with his wand being broken, it backfired. The result was not pretty.

"Let's get him to Hagrid's," said Harry as he and Hermione pulled the red head to his feet.

Harry grimaced as he accidently stepped on a slug that Ron burped up.

* * *

_I don't know what's worse, trying to avoid Lockhart or trying to avoid Colin. Colin seems to have my schedule memorized, so I reckon it's easier to avoid Lockhart._

_Ron finds the whole thing amusing._

_Classes are okay so far this year. Having Astronomy at a decent time helps._

_Snape still hates me. I can see the loathing in his eyes. I think he's still mad Ron and I didn't get expelled. I'm actually surprised that our detentions aren't with him._

_I'd much rather have detention with Snape than with Lockhart, but it seems that Lockhart requested me specifically._

_It starts in an hour. I need to go eat dinner._

_-Harry_

_Okay, so detention tonight with Lockhart proved odd. My hand still aches from addressing all those envelopes - but that's not the odd part._

_The voice I heard that didn't belong to anyone is what was odd. It kept talking about ripping and tearing and killing._

_Lockhart didn't hear it, at least he said he didn't._

_All I need now is for me to start hearing voices that talk about death. Aren't I abnormal enough as it is?_

_-Harry_

* * *

Neville, Harry, and Ron were currently playing exploding snaps when a shadow loomed over them.

They looked up and saw Hermione.

"Going to do your homework some time this year fella's?"

Ron groaned. "We'll do it tomorrow. Harry deserves a day off with the way Oliver keeps following him around making practice happening as often as he can."

Harry snickered which caused the deck to explode.

"Come on Hermione. Play a game or two with us then we'll get started." Harry grinned up at her as he pulled out a new deck.

"We will?" Ron asked, slightly horrified.

Harry smacked him upside his head. "Yep! We've hardly done anything this week anyway."

Hermione thought about it and finally agreed as she sat down in the floor to join the game.

* * *

"Aaaahhhh!"

Harry sat up screaming in his bed, his clothes and sheets were tangled around his body and he was drenched in sweat.

"What's wrong?"

"What's going on?"

"Are you alright?"

All those questions blurred in Harry's mind as he tried to slow his heart rate down.

"Harry!"

Harry started and looked up. All four of his roommates were staring at him - concern written all over their faces. Evidently they had all scrambled up and pulled his curtains back.

"Sorry guys. I didn't mean to wake you. Nightmare."

They all looked at him like he was nuts but headed back to their own beds. Harry got up and headed to the shower.

He didn't go back to sleep that night, not with visions of green light and Voldemort haunting his mind.

* * *

Albus was taking a stroll through the courtyard with Minerva while conversing about the latest Transfiguration Daily issue when they came upon Harry and Ron playing chess in one of the seating areas.

From where they were walking, they could see that Harry was losing - badly. He scowled at Ron briefly before moving another piece.

Minerva raised an eyebrow then whispered, "Wow, he could give Severus a run for his money with that scowl."

Albus chuckled. "You should tell Severus that."

"And have him hex me? No thank you."

Albus laughed out right as they headed back towards the castle. The last time Severus had hexed Minerva she couldn't sit for 3 days. He chuckled at the memory.

* * *

Slowly October approached - and it brought a lot of rain with it.

The rain, however, did not stop Oliver from still having practice every chance he could manage to book the pitch. This was why one evening after dinner - a week before Halloween - Harry was found soaking wet from the rain and mud walking through the entrance hall.

Severus was lurking along the shadows watching Potter come in. He was utterly drenched, leaving muddy foot prints everywhere. It actually looked like he had just emerged from the Black Lake.

He listened to him and the Gryffindor ghost talk for a few minutes then barely suppressed a grin when Filch caught him.

Filch was not known for leniency.

After letting Sir Nicholas float away, he un-melded himself from the shadows to head off towards his office to grade some essays.

* * *

Severus lightly clapped his hands for the dancing skeleton troupe that had just finished performing. They weren't bad but he wasn't in the mood. Albus had cornered him and forced him to the feast, which was the only reason he was there.

Eyeing the Gryffindor table, he saw that Potter, Granger, and Weasley weren't present.

'The boy must not have wanted to come and his friends must be keeping him company,' thought the potion's master.

Severus ended up eating all of 2 bites of his dinner. He simply had no appetite.

After what seemed like an eternity, the feast ended.

"Pomona, do you happen to have any -" He was cut off by the care taker's voice further down the hall.

"I'll kill you!"

"Argus!" yelled Dumbledore alarmed. They came around the corner where the traffic jam was and Severus' eyes nearly bugged out when he saw what was on the wall and who was standing in front of it.

* * *

Albus had felt his heart skip a beat or four when he had seen the message on the wall.

"Dammit Albus, you know he was lying as well as I do."

"There's not much that I can do Severus. I do believe that they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't think they would have done anything to Mrs. Norris."

Severus sat down hard in the chair and just glared at the Headmaster.

"I'm aware that they didn't do it. That was magic way beyond anything a second year can perform. I just think you should have forced out the whole truth from them."

"Forcing out the truth will not help any. Now, I am going to go see Sir Nicholas. You're welcome to join me if you like."

"No thank you. I have paper's to grade." Having said that, Severus stormed off to his quarter's - not to grade paper's - but to ponder this new situation.

* * *

_November 12__th__, 1992_

_People are looking at me like I have the plague ... again. Professor Binns explained about the Chamber of Secrets yesterday so I reckon everyone think's I'm Slytherin's Heir now._

_And then to complicate things, Ron and Hermione said that if the hat had even considered them for Slytherin, they would have been on the first train home._

_I never told them where the hat wanted to place me and now I'm afraid if I do, they'll stop being my friends._

_We're going to ask Lockhart to sign a permission slip so we can get the Moste Potente Potions book from the Restricted Section tomorrow. I really hope I don't have to re-enact anything else of his. Each time he calls on me, I get a sudden urge to scream._

_I've started reading some of those extra books I bought this summer. I __will__ learn to protect myself and my friends since it appears that no one else wants me too. Merlin knows I've not learned anything from Lockhart._

_I need to go study. I failed the transfiguration exam horribly that we had yesterday._

_-Harry_

* * *

Harry squinted in the rain trying to find the practice snitch. He was tired and numb from the cold but Oliver wouldn't let them go inside until he had caught the tiny golden ball.

"Look harder Harry!" he heard from somewhere below him. It vaguely sounded like Alicia Spinnet that had screamed at him over the thunder.

It was a half hour later when Harry finally saw a glint of gold near the goal posts. He dived and 20 seconds later closed his hand over it.

"Finally!" he heard the twin's chorus.

As they walked towards the locker rooms, Harry received pointers from Oliver on how to spot it sooner. If Oliver would have looked at Harry closer, he would have seen that the seeker's eyes were glazed over and that he wasn't listening.

Harry was beyond exhausted.

* * *

A/N: I'm fine tuning more of the book 3 plot (there's a lot that happens and a lot that I need to make happen ... lol) as I continue writing into the 4th. I've gone through like 4 or 5 notebooks. (I like to hand write before I type things up.) Towards the end of this book, there will be a revelation ... but what kind though ... who knows? Well, I do ... and you will soon b/c the retelling of book 2 doesn't have many chapter's, just a few long ones to cover the many months. As for more Severus and Harry interaction, the next chapter has some. When is it coming out? Hopefully I will have it up by this upcoming weekend if my proofing of book 3 goes well. =)


	39. Dueling Surprises

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 39

* * *

"Albus, it's not went after anyone else the entire game," Minerva hissed.

"I can't do anything about it. I could hit Harry if I tried."

Albus glanced across the stands. Severus was sitting with Lucius in the parent's box. He could tell that Severus had noticed the rogue bludger as well. From where he sat, it looked like Lucius found the whole thing amusing.

"Please excuse me Severus. I need to go have a word with my son about paying attention to his surroundings."

As Lucius stalked off towards the Slytherin locker rooms, Severus headed down to the field to join the other professor's.

He waded through the sea of cheering Gryffindor's and got to Potter just in time to see Lockhart remove the boys bones from his arm.

Severus groaned and swooped off in his usual bat like manner to make sure Madam Pomphrey had Skelegrow available.

* * *

Severus was chatting quietly with Filius in the corner of the staff room when Albus walked in.

"There was another attack last night," the Headmaster announced. "Colin Creevey was found petrified."

"What does this mean Albus?" asked Sinastra.

"It means," he hesitated briefly then continued speaking, "that the Chamber of Secret's has indeed been opened again. We must continue to watch over the students more carefully and take care of ourselves as well. The coming months are certain to be stressful."

They all nodded grimly.

Severus noticed peripherally that Hagrid had become pale for some reason.

* * *

Hermione, Ron, and Harry were in the stall at the far end of the girl's bathroom adding the final touches to the polyjuice potion before they left it to brew. Harry was impressed with Hermione's understanding of this potion. He had simply looked at the book and his mind went blank. It was like he was looking at a foreign language.

"It'll be ready around Christmas," said Hermione as she looked from the book to the potion.

Harry watched as the potion bubbled. It looked nasty. He hoped that after it was finished brewing, it would look better.

* * *

Harry looked down at the Astronomy essay he was supposed to be writing on how Jupiter's moons affected potions ingredients. He had two words written, which was sad because he had been working on it for over an hour.

"Ron, this came for you."

Harry looked up and saw Ginny hand her brother a letter.

"Hi Ginny," said Harry politely.

He watched, quite befuddled, as her eyes widened and she slowly backed away and then turned and ran.

Harry shook his head. Girls were strange.

He then returned to his work after sending a glare at the parchment he was supposed to be writing on.

* * *

_December 17__th__, 1992_

_There's a dueling club starting today. As long as Lockhart isn't teaching it, it should be awesome._

_I got some books on magical methods of travel out of the library yesterday. Hopefully after we get a confession out of Malfoy, everyone can relax, and I'll be able to read them._

_-Harry_

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just watched Snape send Lockhart flying with a disarming charm. While Hermione was fretting if Lockhart was alright, Harry and Ron were rolling their eyes at her and wondering if Snape would do it again.

A few minutes later found Harry and Draco up on center stage.

"Rictumsempra," shouted Harry.

"Tarantallegra," yelled Draco after he dodged the hex. Harry dove out of the way and watched it hit Lockhart - who proceeded to start dancing uncontrollably.

"Densaugeo," yelled Harry. Draco barely dodged out of the way.

"Furnunculus," yelled Draco.

Harry realized what that curse would do and immediately slashed his wand through the air and yelled, "Protego!" The curse bounced off his shield and hit the wall harmlessly.

However, before Harry could return fire, Draco yelled, "Serpensortia".

The snake slithered towards Harry that burst out of the end of Draco's wand. Everyone gasped. Severus shook himself out of his stupor and said, "Don't worry Potter, I'll get rid of it."

Before he could move though, Lockhart said that he would do it (he had finally stopped dancing) and proceeded to throw it in the air - which pissed the snake off.

Harry watched the snake turn towards Justin Finch-Fletchley and yelled, "Stop! Don't attack! Leave him alone!" to the snake.

When the snake backed off he was surprised to find everyone looking at him strangely. Even Snape was giving him a shrewd calculating look.

"Come on Harry. Let's go!" Ron pulled Harry down off of the stage and he found himself being dragged up to the Gryffindor common room.

Everyone backed away from him as he passed, as if he were suddenly contagious with some deadly disease.

* * *

"Albus, the boy is a parselmouth. Why is Lily's son a parselmouth?"

Severus was pacing around the Headmaster's office very agitatedly. He had been shocked when Potter cast a perfect shield - that he would learn in his 5th year, but he about had a heart attack when he heard Potter talk to the snake.

"Severus sit down and drink this."

Recognizing a calming potion, he drank it and sat in a chair.

"Now, what's this about Harry being a parselmouth?"

Severus tried for a minute to explain but in the end retrieved Albus' pensieve.

They came out from the memory a few minutes later.

"That's a 5th year shielding spell - that he cast with ease as if he'd been doing it his entire life."

Severus nodded.

Albus sighed. "Being a parselmouth does not automatically make one evil Severus."

Severus glared. "I'm not an imbecile. I'm fully aware of that. What I want to know is why Lily's son can speak to snakes."

"Can you find it hard to believe that he could have been born with it?"

"Yes," Severus stated simply.

Albus just groaned and fire called for some tea. He could tell Severus wasn't going to leave without some type of explanation.

* * *

Severus rubbed the bridge of his temples. He could feel a headache coming on. He had just dismissed his 5th year Slytherin - Ravenclaw class and idly wondered if any of them would pass their OWLS. There had been 2 melting cauldrons during the lesson.

A knock at the door caused him to look up. Potter was standing there.

"What do you want Potter?"

He watched as indecision flickered through the boys eyes briefly then determination.

"I have a question about the assignment you gave us."

Snape raised an eyebrow. Very rarely did students ever come to him about clarification on their homework and even more rarely did a non-Slytherin ask for help.

His headache was starting to gain momentum so he bit out," well, what is it?"

He watched as Potter placed three books on the front table. "For the hair growth potion we are supposed to brew next week, I don't understand why it calls for sardine tails instead of something like Palmarosa or even eel spleens."

"Where did you even read about Palmarosa?" Severus noticed the boy's cheek's flush.

"I bought some extra potion books this summer sir." The boy pointed at the books he had placed on the table.

"Cheating Potter?" Severus asked glancing down at the book titles.

"No sir." He watched the brat take a deep calming breath. "I happen to like potions so I got some extra books to read."

Severus raised an eyebrow in disbelief at the thought of James Potter's son liking potions but opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a piece of parchment to write down a book title.

"Here. This should be in the library," and since he couldn't seem to stop himself, he added, "even someone with your limited brain usage should be able to understand it. If that's all, remove yourself from my class room."

He watched as Potter took the paper and left.

* * *

Harry was upset. He finally got enough courage to ask a potion question and was insulted.

Honestly, he should have known better. He looked down at the book title and sighed.

His journey to the library was interrupted though because he stumbled (quite literally) across Justin Finch-Fletchley. As he picked himself up off of the floor, he saw Sir Nicholas floating nearby.

They were both petrified.

And to make matters worse, Peeves just spotted him.

* * *

Albus watched Harry leave his office. After he made sure Fawkes was alright, he went and sat down at his desk.

He had wanted to use a brief touch of legillimency on Harry but didn't. If the boy had anything to tell him, it would be of his own volition. He knew that Harry had nothing to do with the recent petrification of Justin Finch-Fletchy and Sir Nicholas, though the petrification of Sir Nicholas left him worried.

It was then that he noticed the sorting hat trying to get his attention.

"Yes?" he asked the hat after he put it on his desk.

"Potter and I had a little chat."

"And?" Albus prompted after a minute.

"Seems he's concerned that he might have been placed in the wrong house."

"What did you tell him?"

"That I stood by my decision in that he would have done well in Slytherin. He told me that I was wrong."

Albus thought that the hat sounded upset at being told it was wrong and chuckled.

* * *

It was three days before term was to let out for Christmas break. Harry was the last to leave the Quidditch locker room, having taken his time because he needed to be able to sneak back into Myrtle's bathroom to see Hermione and Ron, which would be easier to do if he was by himself.

"Hey Scar Head!"

"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry asked as he looked up from tying his shoe laces. He saw Malfoy enter the locker room.

Harry hadn't realized that Slytherin had the pitch booked next, otherwise he would have been first out of there.

"Just thought I'd see how everyone's favorite villain is today," he said with a smug look.

"Piss off Malfoy." Harry grabbed his broom and headed towards the exit.

"Language Potter. Didn't your mother ever tell you not to back talk to your superiors?" He paused for half a second then continued speaking. "Oh, that's right. Your mother was murdered. Seems you need some education on how to act around your betters."

Crabbe and Goyle then appeared around the corner.

Harry quickly pointed his wand at them and yelled, "Incarcerous!" He dodged the hex Malfoy sent his way and pointed his wand at him. "Have fun during practice."

Before Malfoy could respond, Harry muttered a curse and ran.

Ten seconds later, he heard Draco screaming, "You're mine Potter!"

Harry chuckled and headed up towards Myrtles bathroom. It would be amusing to see the normally pale blonde with red hair and golden highlights the next morning at breakfast.

The next morning, most of the Gryffindors were watching for Malfoy to enter the Great Hall. Harry had told them about his ambush and how he had responded.

"Mr. Potter, please come with me."

Harry groaned. It was McGonagall. He followed her up to the hospital wing. There he saw Malfoy scowling, sitting on a bed, with red and gold hair.

"Mr. Potter, kindly reverse the spell on Mr. Malfoy."

Harry frowned. The teachers should have been able to do it not to mention the fact that he didn't want to.

"Do I have to Professor? Can't you let him go to one breakfast like that?" asked Harry hopefully.

"Yes, you have to Mr. Potter."

Harry started at how loud McGonagalls' voice was. He pulled his wand out, pointed it at Malfoy (who flinched), and simply said, "Finite Incantatem".

The blondes normal hair returned. "Ten points from Gryffindor for an unprovoked attack."

"But Professor, him and his two goons tried to ambush me as I was leaving the locker rooms after Quidditch practice yesterday."

"There is no evidence of that. You will also be serving detention with Professor Snape after the Christmas Holidays."

Harry groaned - out loud.

After he and Malfoy were dismissed, Madam Pomphrey looked at McGonagall and said, "yes, I tried finite so don't even ask me that."

McGonagall chuckled. "The counter probably needed to come from his wand."

"Wonder when he learned to interweave that into his spells," the medi-witch mused.

Minerva smiled thinly. "He probably didn't mean to. If he asks, I'll tell him that part of his punishment was that he fix his mistake."

The nurse chuckled. "Never minding the fact that we couldn't?"

* * *

A/N: So, as I was doing some last minute changes to book 2 (I had forgotten to include a very important thing in an upcoming chapter), I realized that I had like no Malfoy/Potter interaction and that just couldn't continue ... and besides .. I thought Draco'd look good with red and gold hair. *grins*

As an aside, there are only three more chapter's to go in my version of book 2, so the next chapter (which I am also about to post) speeds things up a little bit in the timeline.


	40. Infiltration, Classwork, and Realization

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 40

* * *

It was currently Christmas holidays and Albus was searching through his potion ingredients cupboard looking for supplies for a special potion. He was curious about something and wanted to know if his hunch was correct.

Groaning, he looked from the book the potion was in to his ingredient cupboard. He was out of Sodalite. He made his way down to Severus' quarters.

Maybe he could get the ingredient without actually telling Severus what it was.

Severus was grading holiday potions when there was a knock at his door.

"Enter."

He looked up and saw the Headmaster. 'You need something Albus?"

"I need to make a potion my boy and I appear to be out of an ingredient. Care if I raid your cupboard?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead."

Breathing a semi-sigh of relief, Albus entered the ingredients cupboard and found what he came for. "Thank you Severus. See you at dinner."

The potion's master merely nodded and resumed his grading.

About 10 minutes after the Headmaster left, Severus got up to see what he took.

"Boomslang skin, Powdered Bicorn Horn, and ... Sodalite! What? What in the world would Albus want with those three ingredients?" he asked himself. The first two items were used in Polyjuice. The last is what confused him. There weren't very many uses for it, especially not combined with the other two.

Frowning, he locked his office and headed up to dinner.

* * *

Christmas morning arrived. Harry opened his eyes to find presents from Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Mrs. Weasley.

During dinner, Harry entered the Great Hall wearing a Weasley sweater while talking animatedly to Ron and Hermione. If he would have looked up at the Headmaster, he would have seen a twinkle in his eye due to his outfit.

"So, this is what we need to do," whispered Hermione.

Ron and Harry exchanged a look that said this was a disaster waiting to happen after she finished talking.

* * *

"Yes?" Severus asked Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle as they stared at him while standing in the doorway to his quarter's.

"Sir, we think Slytherin might have been infiltrated," stated Malfoy boldly.

Severus raised an eyebrow at the blonde, indicating for him to continue speaking.

"I found Crabbe and Goyle in a closet together - locked up. They say that they had been there for over an hour but I had a conversation with them in our common room during that time."

"And what were you two doing in a closet together?"

Severus noticed that both boys faces turned red with embarrassment.

"We were eating a cupcake as we left the Great Hall and the next thing we know is that we were in a closet. Over an hour had passed," Crabbe managed to stutter out.

Severus scowled. "Very well. I'll look into the matter and tomorrow I'll change the password."

"Thank you sir."

Severus leaned against the door frame and watched the trio head back to their dorms. He wondered how Potter and his friends could have pulled that off because no one else would have the audacity to even entertain the notion of sneaking into the Slytherin common room.

* * *

Severus eyed the sleeping Granger in the infirmary. She was transformed into a partial cat. He quietly placed the vials of potion that she would need to take in Madam Pomphrey's medicine stores.

That meant that she, Potter, and Weasley had at some prior point stole the ingredients for the polyjuice potion (he recognized the failed transformation). It certainly explained how Potter and Weasley were able to impersonate Crabbe and Goyle, though he wondered if Granger chose a cat hair on purpose or by accident.

He didn't want to comprehend the skill the second years showed by brewing that potion so he focused instead on the ingredient that Albus took - the Sodalite.

He was certainly curious but wouldn't ask ... yet.

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Neville were working on their potions essay in study hall being proctored by Snape. Hermione was still in the hospital wing though she had told them that she was getting out in a couple of days.

"Harry, I don't understand this. The book says sliced tube worms are a neutral base but in this potion's directions it indicates that its acidic."

Harry glanced up at Neville. The boy looked like he was at his wit's end and indeed must be to whisper that in a study hall where Snape was prowling the room.

"The way the juice blends with the fairy wings affects it in this case. The potion says it has to brew for 20 minutes. That's just enough time to let all of the juice excrete out of the worms and seep into the fairy wings."

Harry looked up at Neville and saw that he was still perplexed and that his eye was twitching.

"It's the brewing time. Normally potions with tube worms in them don't require a long brewing time meaning that they are normally classified as neutral."

"So it's just the brewing time?" asked Neville hopefully.

"Well, that, and the makeup of the fairy wings."

Neville banged his head on the table.

Severus listened in discreetly as Potter explained to Longbottom how the worms were acidic.

He was impressed with the boys grasp of the theory and how he explained it.

Not that he would ever admit that of course. He briefly entertained the idea of going over and intimidating them but decided that maybe this explanation would keep Longbottom from exploding something.

Just then a group of 6th year girls burst into a fit of giggles so he went over to make his displeasure known.

* * *

Harry's arms were killing him. He had just came from the detention that was assigned to him for changing Malfoy's hair a different color before the Christmas Holidays had began. Snape had made him scrub cauldrons and pickle toad toes.

He threw himself down onto the bed but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get any sleep.

Harry quietly got out of bed and fiddled with Riddles diary for a couple of hours. He didn't like it because every time he got near it - his scar would twinge.

But his gut told him that he needed to figure out how to work it, that whatever it contained was important.

Eventually he gave up and forced himself to get some sleep.

* * *

_February 14__th__, 1993_

_It was Hagrid that opened the Chamber of Secret's last time but I don't want to believe it. I don't believe he would want anyone killed. _

_Riddle has to be wrong._

_I'm sorry I ever figure out how to work his stupid diary now. I'm sorry that I ever even found it. I should have just left it in Myrtle's bathroom._

_-Harry_

* * *

Harry stared down at the raven he was supposed to be transfiguring into ear muffs. All he had managed to do so far was get bitten - twice. He glanced around the room and had to stifle a bark of laughter.

Neville had manage to transfigure his but there was still a beak on one of the muff's which made him look like an alien.

"Mr. Potter, why is your raven still a raven?"

Harry started. He hadn't heard her come up behind him. "I can't seem to do it Professor," he muttered.

"Of course you can do it. Try now."

Harry picked up his wand, pointed it at the bird, and using every bit of concentration he could muster, said "Cornix Mutatio Auris Operculum" as he twisted his wand in his hand 90 degree's to the left.

All that happened is that the raven reached around the wand and bit him again.

McGonagall frowned. "See me after class for extra homework Potter."

"Yes ma'am." Harry groaned internally. That's all he needed was extra homework. A glance at Ron saw a look of sympathy. He had managed to change his raven (even with is broken wand) but his ear muffs were a ghastly pink color.

* * *

"Cleaning charms are very useful, as you can imagine, so the next few lessons we are going to be going over a few of the simpler ones."

Harry watched as Professor Flitwick performed a couple of spells on a grubby table.

"I'll call each of you up to perform a polishing spell. Who can tell me the best type of item to use this on? Ms. Granger?"

"The polishing spell is best used on wood and brass. While it will work on other surfaces, like mirrors, it could harm it if long term use occurs."

"Ten points to Gryffindor. How does it harm the object if used on non-wood and non-brass items? Mr. Boot?"

"The spell will slowly weaken whatever it is being used on by stripping away a layer of the object, eventually causing it to break."

"Ten points to Ravenclaw. Everyone practice the wand movement and the incantation. I'm going to start calling you up."

Harry watched as everyone performed the spell. He smiled as Neville done it on the first try. When it should have been his turn to be called, Flitwick skipped over him.

Harry frowned. Did the tiny professor not think that he could do it?

Ron came back to his seat after his turn. His ears were bright red. His wand had mis-fired, which in turn, caused him to hit the professor instead.

"Mr. Potter. You're next!"

Harry walked up. He pointed his wand at the wooden table and said, "Nitor" as he swished his wand left to right - making sure to do it the width of the table.

It polished brilliantly.

Harry started to go back to his seat when the professor stopped him.

"I saved Mr. Potter for last because I want to show everyone what can happen if you add too much power to a polishing charm. Now, Mr. Potter, I want you to summon all of your power and channel it into this spell," Flitwick said after focusing his attention back on him.

Harry frowned. Great, now he was being made a spectacle of. As if he wasn't enough of a freak already. Since he already knew what would happen, he took several steps back.

However, he didn't use all of his power. Actually, he didn't even think he used a quarter of it.

"Nitor!" he yelled.

The table glowed for a second and then shattered, the pieces hitting a shield that Flitwick had erected while Harry had moved into position.

He made his way back to the table where Ron and Hermione were sitting.

"The polishing spell is the only cleaning charm that you have to worry about the amount of power you put behind it. Read chapter 33 and practice the charms listed for next class."

As Harry was leaving the classroom, he saw Flitwick give him a look that said that he knew that Harry had held back on how much power he put behind that spell.

Harry scurried away as fast as he could.

* * *

It was Easter break and Harry was reading the descriptions of each class that he could sign up for, for the upcoming school term.

He watched bemusedly as Hermione signed up for everything. Ron hadn't decided yet.

Eventually Harry marked down Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Ancient Runes as his electives.

He would have CoMC and Divination with both Ron and Hermione and Ancient Runes with Hermione since Ron didn't want to take that class.

Once that was decided, Harry and Ron entered into a game of chess, much to Hermione's disapproval because they had a lot of homework that they had been procrastinating.

* * *

"What could be so important to cancel Quidditch?" whispered Ron to Harry. They rounded the curtain in the hospital wing and to their horror they saw Hermione laying on a bed - petrified.

They both just stopped and stared open mouthed.

"But we just saw her before we went down to the Pitch," said Harry.

"She was found near the library, holding this. Do either of you recognize it?"

They both looked at the hand held mirror.

"No," murmured Harry.

"Alright. You two go back to the dorms. I'll be along in a minute. I have an announcement to make."

* * *

Albus was furious. Minister Fudge had just taken Hagrid to Azkaban and Lucius Malfoy had just removed him as acting Headmaster.

He had been surprised to realize that Harry and Ron had been in the cabin but maybe he shouldn't have been.

Albus hoped what he said in the cabin would some how help Harry. The boy had a streak of inquisitiveness and not to mention rule breaking in him that rivaled all of the Marauder's combined. He knew the castle had sentient feelings and hoped that should Harry discover what's going on, it will protect him so he could get help.

Albus looked around his office. He had written a note to Minerva and Severus and gathered up a few items.

That done, he walked down to Hogsmeade and disapparated to his rarely used home in Godrics Hollow.

* * *

Harry and Ron snuck down to Hagrid's hut to feed Fang. Ever since the Headmaster had been removed, everyone was a barrel of nerves - except the Slytherin's. They seemed to be enjoying the situation.

When Hermione had turned up petrified, that made the Hufflepuffs' less suspicious of him and they started talking to him in class now (ever since Justin was petrified, most had avoided him).

They had been doing their homework but neither of them remembered much and as much as they didn't want to admit it, they missed Hermione's nagging them to get it done.

When they returned to the castle, Neville was waiting on them. He had agreed to be their lookout when they snuck out to feed Hagrid's dog. Neville was among those that didn't believe that Hagrid had done anything wrong.

"Go alright?"

"Yea. Anyone notice?"

Neville shook his head. "Before you go to bed Harry, can you help me with some homework?"

Harry nodded and went and sat down at the table Neville had his books on.

* * *

_May 14__th__, 1993_

_I'm with Ron. If Hagrid doesn't get killed in Azkaban, I'm gonna kill him when he returns._

_Aragog's descendants just tried to eat us. It was horrible. I imagine Ron's fear of spiders has increased 10 fold now._

_It wasn't a total waste though. We did find out that Hagrid didn't open the Chamber last time and that Myrtle was the one that was killed._

_First chance we get, we're going to go talk with her._

_-Harry_

* * *

Harry stared down at the paper that he had managed to get out of Hermione's petrified hand.

"Ron, I'm an idiot. Why didn't I realize it before? The voice I keep hearing in the walls is a snake. That's why no one else can hear it."

The red head peered over Harry's shoulder to read the paper as well.

"Let's go tell McGonagall," said Ron. "The thought of a giant snake moving around in the plumbing gives me the ghoulies."

Harry looked at Ron. "The ghoulies?"

"You know - that feeling you get when you get weirded out?"

Harry just chuckled as he dragged his friend to the teacher's lounge.

* * *

"Harry, we have to get Ginny! Lockhart may be an idiot but if he's going to try, we can tell him what we know."

Harry nodded. Ron was right. As long as Lockhart was going to try, they could tell him what they had managed to figure out.

They passed unhindered through the portrait to go find their professor. Since it was Ron's sister, no one tried to stop them.

Once clear of the portrait's view, they took off at a full run to the defense classroom, and were completely unprepared for the sight of Lockhart hap-hazardly packing everything in the room into his trunks.

* * *

Harry and Ron kept their wands trained on their fraud of a Defense Professor as they entered the girl's bathroom.

"Who's there?"

"It's me Myrtle."

"Oh! Hello Harry. What do you want?"

Harry took a deep breath. "To ask you ... how you died."

* * *

Albus had just bottled up the potion that he had finished brewing (he had to keep occupied somehow) when about 6 owls flew in the room, followed by more behind them.

"Goodness!" he exclaimed as he relieved each owl of their burden.

After scanning the first letter, he knew what the other ones would contain. He quickly pocketed the letters, the potion, grabbed his cloak, and disapparated towards Hogsmeade so that he could walk up to the castle.

He went straight to Minerva's office. There he found Molly and Arthur Weasley looking very distressed holding onto each other for support. Minerva was sitting behind her desk with her head in her hands.

"Where are the other Professors?"

"Oh, Albus! Thank Merlin you're back," cried Molly. "Something took Ginny."

"I know. I got several owls a few minutes ago."

"They went to do a head count of their houses to make sure no one else is missing."

He nodded.

"What are we going to do Albus?" asked Arthur. "My daughter is gone!"

Just then there was a knock at the door. The head girl came in and handed McGonagall a note.

"Thank you. Go back to the Ravenclaw dorms now."

After the head girl left, Minerva opened the note and let out a strangled cry. She handed it to Albus who read it and groaned. Harry and Ron wasn't in the Gryffindor common room.

"I'll be back in a few minutes. I have some portraits and ghosts to question." That said, the Headmaster left the room. He would deal with the content of the note after he done some investigating.

* * *

A/N: Yes, this one was a long one. :P The next one isn't going to be as long, but I'm going to be finishing some final touches on it later today. Hopefully I can get the final two chapters up for Book 2 in the next day or so. I've been continuing to write even as I go back and edit and am now about half way into book 4. There are some scenes that I need to edit into book 3 though.

And speaking of wrenches in the story line ... there's one coming up in the next couple of chapters. (I don't remember which one it is off the top of my head!)


	41. The Chamber of Secrets

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

A/N: Sorry it took so long. I got three chapters up to make up for it though! I changed some of the story around that I'd not published yet ... pushed back stuff, brought other stuff out sooner so I'm about finished re-writing my version of PoA.

* * *

Chapter 41

* * *

"Obliviate!"

Harry thanked Merlin for his seeker reflexes because he managed to jump out of the way of Lockhart's spell but he needn't have worried. Lockhart had managed to grab Ron's broken wand which backfired. He was knocked backwards into the wall by the force of the spell.

Harry heard and felt the rocks around him crumbling. He dived one way while Ron dived the other.

* * *

Albus had just left Minerva's office when the castle's wards indicated to him that one of it's labyrinth's of tunnels had collapsed.

He frowned.

Normally the castle would give him an indication of where it happened but he didn't get one this time.

* * *

"Ron are you okay!" Harry yelled through the fallen rubble and rocks.

"Yeah but Lockhart's not. My wand backfired and he hit himself with the memory charm!"

Harry groaned and looked around, seemingly coming to a decision. "I'm going to go and find Ginny. You stay here and try to shift this rock."

"Be careful Harry," called out the red head.

Harry could hear the nervousness in Ron's voice. He grimaced, pulled out his wand, and muttered "Lumos". He then carefully made his way through the winding tunnels alone. As he walked away he heard a thud followed by silence from Lockhart. He suspected that Ron had hit the fraud over the head.

* * *

"Baron, have you seen or heard anything?" asked Albus as he came upon the ghost floating down a hallway.

"No Headmaster."

"Has Peeves?"

"I've not seen Peeves for a couple of hours."

"If you see him, ask him. I'm going to question some other ghosts."

The Bloody Baron drifted off.

The Headmaster went in search of Myrtle.

* * *

Harry's scar was burning. It had always caused a dull ache during the time he had possession of the diary. That's what made him wary of it in the first place.

But now it was out right burning and for good reason.

Voldemort was, more or less, standing in front of him - and he had Harry's wand.

"So Dumbledore sends his protégé a bird and an old hat? Prepare for your death Harry Potter!"

Harry watched as the ghostly Tom Riddle turned to the statue and said, "Speak to me Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwart's Four."

His mind registered the fact that it was spoken in Parseltongue.

He wondered briefly if he would be able to control the basilisk himself as the statue's mouth opened, but it seemed that Riddle read his mind.

"Parseltongue won't save you now Potter. She answers only to me!"

Harry had turned around and was running for the door. He hoped that once he got in the tunnel, he could think of a way to save himself.

Barely dodging a strike, which made him fall and twist his ankle badly, Harry suddenly heard the snake hiss in pain. He shut his eyes but very carefully peeked them open. What he saw surprised him.

Fawkes was blinding the basilisk.

Realizing this was his only second for reprieve, Harry tried desperately to think of something that would get him and Ginny out of the Chamber alive. Tom Riddle was becoming more solid by the second which meant that Ginny was dying.

Suddenly, as the basilisk was writhing in pain, it's tail caught the sorting hat and flung it at Harry's head. He remembered what Dumbledore had said about asking for help and realizing it was his only chance, threw it on his head and cried out in desperation in his mind, "Help! Help!"

Suddenly something heavy hit Harry in the head. It brought tears to his eyes it hit him so hard.

As soon as he pulled out a sword, he realized that the basilisk had regained its sense of smell and it was looking straight at him.

* * *

Albus had searched Myrtle's bathroom for her but either she wasn't there or she was hiding from him.

He had long since headed off to find Severus.

* * *

"Go back to your Chamber," hissed Harry as he dove out of the way.

"No. Freedom." The basilisk kept hissing over and over again as she kept striking at the boy.

"I'll bring you all the food you want," hissed Harry in sheer desperation.

"Enough!" Riddle hissed. "Kill him! Now!"

That effectively halted any negotiation attempts.

Harry jumped out of the way as the snake lunged. It lunged again and again Harry was able to move.

However the next time it struck at him, he was waiting. When it lunged, he pointed the sword upward and the basilisk impaled itself.

But Harry did not get away unscathed. A tooth broke off in his arm and he could feel the deadly venom pulsating through his body.

He was dying. Riddle was going to win.

* * *

Severus and Albus were talking animatedly when suddenly Severus felt his breath catch and he swayed. Had the headmaster not been right next to him and caught him, he would have fallen to the ground.

"Severus, what's wrong?" asked Albus alarmed.

"It's Harry ..."

"What? What do you mean!"

A couple seconds later, the dizziness passed and he realized he was seated in a conjured chair.

"What's wrong?" asked Albus again, this time more urgently.

"I'm not sure. I felt as if Potter was ... dying ... But that's not possible Albus. Why would I feel it?"

Albus definitely had a theory if the gleam in his eyes was anything to go by.

"Please concentrate Severus. Do you feel anything about him now, especially like you did a second ago?"

Severus thought for a minute. "I feel like I always have towards him."

'That's something,' thought Albus. "Let's go to Minerva's office. We need to tell Molly and Arthur that Ronald is also missing. Then we _need_ to find Myrtle."

Severus nodded. He carefully stood up and together they walked towards Minerva's office.

* * *

Harry felt the magic from the air seemingly cradle him. It made him feel remarkably calm. After a couple of seconds had passed he looked down at his arm that Fawkes had cried on. The wound was gone. The Phoenix had healed him.

Harry then grabbed the basilisk tooth and stabbed it into the diary that Fawkes had just brought to him. Tom arrested mid-motion while trying to stop him and exploded in a ball of white light but for some reason the action caused Harry's scar to sear with pain. Pain like he had never felt before.

It passed after a few seconds so he picked up the diary then slowly got up himself and limped over to where the sorting hat lay. After he put that in his pocket, he carefully extracted the sword from the basilisk. He picked up his wand that dropped when Tom exploded and put it in his wand holder on his wrist.

"Never again will I drop it carelessly," he muttered.

It was then Ginny groaned. He limped over to her and shook her gently. "Wake up Ginny."

Her eyes flew open. "Oh Harry! It was me and the diary ... and Riddle ... where is he?"

"He's gone Ginny. C'mon. Let's go."

She let out a startled scream at the sight of the dead basilisk.

"She's dead."

"Did you kill it?" asked the red head with tears running down her face.

"With some help from Fawkes and the sorting hat."

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later. Ron's waiting in the tunnel. Let's go."

As Harry carefully helped Ginny up while putting as little pressure on his twisted ankle as he could, he saw an outline of two doors on the far wall.

It was faint but it was there. He felt drawn to inspect them but knew that if he didn't get Ginny back soon, Ron would be even more frantic than he had been when Harry had left.

"Ginny, try not to touch any of the blood on my robes. It might be poisonous like the snake's venom."

The red head nodded, tears still falling down her face.

Harry then saw Fawkes eye his ankle. "It's alright Fawkes. I'll have Madam Pomphrey fix it. You've been a great help already."

The phoenix trilled an encouraging note and together, the three of them made their way back towards Ron and Lockhart.


	42. More Questions Than Answers

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 42

* * *

Severus and Albus entered Minerva's office. Severus walked over to the desk to whisper something to Minerva.

"Molly, Arthur. I'm afraid I have more bad news," said Albus after a couple of minutes.

"More?" they exclaimed.

Albus nodded. "It seems that -"

Just then there was a knock at the door. When it opened, everyone just stared.

In came Fawkes, Harry (who was still limping and covered in blood), Ginny, Ron, and Lockhart.

Albus glanced at McGonagall who looked like she was having issues breathing. Severus wasn't doing much better.

"Ginny!" Mr. And Mrs. Weasley both pulled her into their arms.

Albus, however, (along with Severus and Minerva) watched as Harry limped over and placed the sorting hat, the diary with a big hole in it, the basilisk's tooth, and the sword down on the desk. The phoenix flew over and plopped itself on the Headmaster's shoulder, seemingly proud of itself. He didn't even realize that Fawkes had left his perch.

Mrs. Weasley made to pull Harry into her arms too but he stopped her. "Don't Mrs. Weasley. I'm covered in Basilisk blood and I'm afraid that it might hurt you."

All of the adults in the room gasped, simply unable to say anything (except Lockhart who was staring idly at a moving picture).

The potion's master found his voice first.

"Potter, you need to remove your robes immediately. With that blood on you, you shouldn't even be able to move. It's a paralytic and extremely acidic."

Harry shrugged. "The blood's not hurting me - especially considering the basilisk bit me. I just don't want anyone else to get hurt." He removed the robes slowly, revealing Dudley's four times too big hand me downs.

Everyone looked at him strangely, again, lost for words. Harry just ignored the looks.

Finally Minerva screeched out, "Explain yourselves! Now! From the beginning!"

As Albus listened to Harry explain everything that happened, starting from when he began to hear the dis-embodied voice, he realized with some horror that this was how Voldemort took his steps to remain immortal. That didn't bode well.

At one point there was a desperate look in the boy's eyes. He didn't want Ms. Weasley to be in trouble, so Albus was able to help there, ensuring that she wouldn't be punished.

Eventually he sent Ms. Weasley and her parents off to the infirmary (and to take Lockhart with them), Minerva to wake the elves to prepare a feast, Ron to deliver a letter to the owlery which would free Hagrid, and Severus to inform the other heads of house.

Then he and Harry had a chat.

"First of all Harry, you must have shown me real loyalty down in the chamber. Nothing else would have called Fawkes to you. Thank you."

Harry turned red as he sat down in the chair. His ankle was still hurting him.

"You have some questions?"

Harry nodded. "Riddle said that he and I were alike ..."

"I bet he did," chuckled Albus. "What's really bothering you Harry?"

Harry hesitated for a second then blurted out before he could stop himself, "I'm afraid that I should have been in Slytherin - like the hat originally wanted to place me."

Albus smiled. He thought that was what Harry was referring to. "Yet it put you in Gryffindor. Why do you think it did that?"

Harry thought back to his sorting and looked at the hat that was fidgeting slightly on the desk. "Because ... in a way ... I guess I asked it to."

Albus nodded. "You do have attributes that Salazar would have appreciated. The ability to speak to snakes, your cunningness, and if I may say so - a certain disregard for the rules, but as you go through life you'll see that it's your choices that make you who you are, not your abilities."

"Does that mean that one of my parents could speak to snakes too?"

Albus shook his head. "Unless I'm mistaken, when Voldemort tried to kill you that night, he inadvertently gave you some of his abilities."

"I have some of him inside of me?" asked Harry horrified.

Albus grimaced. "You have some of his abilities, yes." Then the Headmaster smiled. "Now as for whether or not you should have been in Gryffindor, look closely at the sword."

Harry picked it up carefully and saw the name Godric Gryffindor etched below the hilt on the blade. His eyes widened as he looked up at the Headmaster.

"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled _that_ out of the hat."

Harry beamed.

"Can you walk up to the hospital wing on your ankle?"

Harry nodded.

"Go on then and hurry back down to the feast. You may even see Madam Pomphrey wake Ms. Granger."

Albus conjured a black robe to put over Harry's ... clothes ... if they could be called that.

Harry thanked the Headmaster and as he went to limp out, the door slammed open and in walked Lucius Malfoy - being trailed by Dobby.

* * *

Severus took a detour to an empty classroom before he notified the other professors what all had occurred.

He sank down into a chair, in total shock.

Potter killed a basilisk and lived. Hell, he was bit by it and covered in it's blood and was still alive and breathing.

Phoenix tears could account for some of the healing but not all of it. It simply didn't make any sense to him.

'And I knew I was dying but I felt the magic in the air do something and then Fawkes healed me. Fawkes then threw the diary at me and I stabbed it on the chance that the venom would spread through the pages.'

Severus replayed that over in his head. The fact that he had said he could feel the magic in the air had shocked him but even more so had the realization that the time corresponded to when Severus had felt something that made him think the boy was dying.

But why? Why him? Why would he, of all people, feel such a thing?

He had heard of parent's knowing the instant their own children were hurt - especially in the wizarding world.

But Potter was not his.

Lily would not have kept something like that from him.

'But she would if it involved protecting him and the boy,' a voice in the back of his mind said before he could squash it.

Severus counted the months and realized that it would have been exactly nine months since conception that Harry would have been born. He had never really thought to do that before.

He shook his head ruefully. No. Potter was not his. Babies were rarely born exactly nine months from conception and Lily would not have hid his child from him.

Severus managed to squash the protesting voice that time.

All the evidence he should need is in Potters face. The boy is the spitting image of James Potter.

Harry was not his son.

There had to be another reason for his reaction and he _would_ figure it out.

"Tempus," he murmured.

Snape realized that he had been brooding for 20 minutes. He quickly got up and headed towards Pomona's quarters.

* * *

"You cost me my servant! Sanguis -"

Dobby pushed his hands forward and Harry watched with wide eyes as Mr. Malfoy went flying down the hall.

"You shall not harm Harry Potter!"

Lucius picked himself up off the floor and before storming away declared, "You'll go out just like your meddlesome parents did and I hope that I'm there this time to see it."

Before Harry could respond, Malfoy was gone.

* * *

"Mr. Potter, you need to take a shower to get the rest of the blood off of you. When you get out, I can give you something for your ankle.

Harry grimaced. He was beginning to hate the hospital wing.

After he emerged from the hospital shower, he saw his own robes sitting on a chair. Madam Pomphrey must have had someone retrieve them from his closet.

"Take a seat Mr. Potter and drink this. It will heal your ankle."

Harry took it, grimacing at the taste. A few minutes later, his ankle no longer hurt.

"Thanks Madam Pomphrey!" Harry made to leave when he was stopped.

"Hold on young man. I need to run some tests to make sure that the blood didn't do any lasting harm to you."

He groaned and had to sit through twenty minutes of scans and muttering from the medi-witch before he could join the feast.

* * *

It was after the feast. Everyone had gone to bed already. Even though exams were cancelled, O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s were not.

Albus eyed the potion. He had no idea what he would do if this told him what he thought it would.

Sighing, he added a drop of Harry's blood that he had confiscated to the vial and shook it. He then dumped the contents out onto a piece of parchment.

Harry James Potter

Mother: Lily Marie Evans - Potter

Father: James Cadius Potter

Albus sighed. Now he was going to have to come up with some new theories regarding a lot of things that he had seen happen.

He quickly vanished the vial and paper and headed up to bed.

* * *

Deep in the bowels of Gringotts' a parchment activated, waiting to have its orders carried out.

* * *

After the final breakfast, Harry walked up to the Headmaster.

"Professor, you got a minute?"

Albus nodded. They went into a side room.

"Sir is there any way at all that I can stay here over the summer? I know you said last year that students couldn't but I promise that I'll stay out of sight."

"I'm sorry Harry. Surely your aunt and uncle would miss you."

"I doubt it sir. They'd probably be disappointed I didn't get eaten."

Albus frowned. He did not like how that sounded. "Harry when your mom died, I invoked a very ancient and very powerful magical ward around your aunt and uncle's home. When she took you in, it sealed it. As long as you reside there at least 2 weeks out of the year, no evil can harm you there."

Harry sighed. At least he knew why he couldn't stay at the castle now. "All right sir. Have a good summer."

"You too Harry."

Albus watched as he headed back towards his friends to catch a carriage.

* * *

Severus hadn't had any luck figuring out why he had the reaction that he did and he was at an utter loss to make any sense of everything that had transpired.

Albus had been looking at him oddly but the potion's master had been unable to get anything out of the old coot.

Severus idly wondered if he threatened to take the man's sweets away, if Albus would tell him anything - or just hex him outright.

It was a couple days after school let out when Severus found Albus scolding Peeves. They began walking and talking about the upcoming potions conference that Severus was about to go to. Eventually Severus asked, "So, any children out there?"

Albus coughed. "Excuse me?"

"The Sodalite. There aren't many uses for it."

Albus groaned. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice what I took and no, I don't have any children out there."

Severus smirked. "I'm sure that the people that make your lemon drops will be disappointed to know that."

The Headmaster just rolled his eyes.

As they made their way up to Albus' office, Severus idly wondered whose paternity Albus had questioned.

Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks.

Surely Albus didn't check Potters blood, though it would explain some of the looks that he had been getting. No. It must have been an older student who was curious or it could have even been for one of his acquaintances at the ministry.

Yes, that had to be it.

After all, no one knew that he had made love to Lily but himself and Lily.

"Severus?"

The potions' master looked up. "Sorry. Was thinking."

Albus merely smiled and they both continued on their way through the castle.


	43. News! Lots of News!

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 43

* * *

Harry had been back at Privet Drive for almost two weeks when he heard his uncle making plans for his Aunt Marge to visit. He groaned. He despised Marge and her dogs. All his memories of that woman were horrid.

"You will be on your best behavior boy," spat out Vernon Dursley.

"Yes Uncle Vernon," said Harry as he finished up the evening dishes.

"Go to your room and keep quiet. Our Dudder's and his friends are going to watch a movie."

"Yes Aunt Petunia."

Harry sat down on the cot once he was locked inside of his prison (as he had come to call it) and pulled out his journal. He had managed to sneak it, his transfiguration book, and a Quidditch magazine out of his trunk (which his Uncle had locked in the cupboard the second he had walked through the door) a couple of days prior. His uncle had been too busy showing off his new car to notice.

* * *

_July 12__th__, 1993_

_I miss my friends already. They've both written to me once. They are both going on vacation. I wonder what it's like to go on vacation. When I get old enough, I'm going to see the world. I think that it would be awesome. _

_I was an idiot to think that Ron and Hermione would stop being my friends if they found out that the hat wanted to place me in Slytherin._

Harry smiled at the memory. He had told two of his best friends on the train ride home. (Neville had sat with some Hufflepuff friends that he had made from Herbology.)

"Really mate? Well at least you came to the good house. It probably only wanted you to go to Slytherin since you can speak to snakes," Ron had exclaimed around a mouthful of chocolate frogs.

Hermione had adopted a thoughtful expression after she had hit Harry upside his head. "Honestly Harry, we're not going to stop being your friends because the hat wanted to put you somewhere else."

She had then pulled out a piece of parchment while muttering something about magical artifacts. He had just grinned at her and entered into a game of exploding snap with Ron.

_Aunt Marge is coming for a visit. The last time she came for a visit I spent 7 hours up a tree because her dog chased me there. _

_I wish I could stay in the wizarding world. I hate it here. Nothing I do makes the Dursley's proud of me._

_I was right when I told Professor Dumbledore that they would be disappointed that I wasn't eaten by the snake._

_They were._

_I told them on the chance that they would be proud of what I had done. Instead Uncle Vernon lectured me on my abnormality and keeping quiet about it. I wonder why I even bothered telling them._

_I know the Headmaster said that I'm safe here because of the wards but what about from my own family?_

_-Harry_

Harry put his journal back under the loose floorboard and pulled out his transfiguration things.

McGonagall had assigned a nasty essay on Transfiguration of body parts and its limitations.

Harry began to read while keeping an ear open incase the Dursley's came upstairs. He had to do better this year. Since there had been no final exams, Harry had barely passed Transfiguration with an acceptable.

* * *

Albus was enjoying a good book when he heard the woosh of the Floo network being activated. He walked into the next room and saw the Minister of Magic's head in the fire place. However, before he could speak, Fudge blurted, "He's gone Albus!"

Albus looked at Fudge's head. "Who's gone Cornelius?"

"Sirius Black! The Dementors told the guards who told me!"

Albus strode swiftly to the fireplace. "Move aside. I'll come through and you can explain it to me."

As soon as the Minister's head disappeared, Albus stepped into the fireplace.

* * *

Severus had just returned to Hogwarts. He had spent two weeks in France at a Potions Conference. As he was unpacking, there was a knock at his door.

"Enter!"

Albus entered the room. "How was the conference?"

"It was fine, just like all the others I attend. The usual idiots were there trying to invent new concoctions and only one or two had new ideas that showed substance."

Albus nodded. He was not looking forward to what he was about to tell Severus. He silently erected a shield around himself.

"When you're finished unpacking, I would like a word with you."

Severus nodded. The headmaster usually liked to pry him for details and he normally obliged by making sarcastic comments on the other brewers' intellect - or lack thereof.

Twenty minutes later they were both sitting in Severus' library, drinking tea.

Albus just dived right in before Severus found out himself by picking up one of the back copies of the Daily Prophet.

"Did you follow the news while you were away?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"No. You know that we tend to seclude ourselves while there. Why?"

Albus sighed. There was no easy way to put this.

"Three nights ago, Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban."

The cup in Severus' hand shattered.

"What?"

"They don't know how he did it but the ministry is currently searching everywhere for him."

There was a gleam in Severus' eyes that Albus didn't care for very much.

"I hope that I'm the one to find him," he muttered darkly.

"Severus!"

Severus startled, as if just now remembering that he wasn't alone.

"Is Potter under surveillance?"

Albus nodded. "His aunt's house will protect him. You, however, are bleeding."

Severus looked down. His hand was indeed bleeding.

As he cleaned the glass out of the cut, Albus said, "Severus, promise me you won't go looking for him."

Severus glared. "I'll do no such thing. He is the reason that Lily is dead. You can't expect me to sit idly by."

"I can and I do."

"Then you are a fool," he hissed while murmuring a healing charm over the cut.

"Maybe I am but I'm not leaving your rooms until I get your word you won't go searching for him." The look in Albus' eyes held no room for argument.

Severus just sneered. He knew that the Headmaster would hound his steps until he agreed. "Fine. I won't go searching for Black."

Albus eyed him warily then excused himself to give the man some time to process what he said.

* * *

A couple days later found Harry carefully wrapping the shirt pieces that he had cut up around his legs and arms where he was bleeding.

He had been outside working in the garden when Dudley and his gang decided to play with the "freak". They had pushed him into the rose bushes (which had very sharp thorns) and had been kicking him repeatedly when a patrol car passed by and saw what was happening.

The cop had rounded up the boys and then helped Harry to the door. His Aunt looked horrified to open the door and see a cop standing there. Just think of what the neighbor's would say!

"Ma'am, I'm afraid he might need some medical attention."

"Nonsense officer. He's fine." She rounded on Harry and gave him a look that said he wouldn't see food for 2 weeks if she had her say. "You, boy, get upstairs and clean up and don't get blood on anything!" That said, she shut the door in the cop's face after swearing up and down that her Duddikin's wouldn't hurt a fly and that he must have been mistaken in what he had seen.

* * *

Albus looked at the man across the desk from him. Remus Lupin was wearing an old tweed suit while drinking some tea. He hadn't seen the man for three years but during that time they had kept in touch by owl.

"I about had a heart attack when I read that Sirius had managed to escape Azkaban."

"Has he tried to contact you?"

Lupin's eyes narrowed. "No. I doubt he would since he showed everyone his true colors. He knows that I'd most likely kill him."

Albus nodded. "Did you have any major plans this upcoming year?"

"Nothing that couldn't be re-arranged. Why? Did you need something?"

"How would you like to come teach Defense Against the Dark Arts here? You would be able to see Harry again."

Remus let out a small gasp. He hadn't seen Harry since he had been a baby.

After he had been placed at the Dursley's, Remus had taken the Headmaster's advice and let him grow up away from anything in the wizarding world - though he did raise a fuss over the fact that Harry was going to stay with Petunia.

It would help him keep away from all of the insanity, not to mention the fact that the remaining Death Eater's wouldn't be able to find the boy - and Merlin knows that they had stalked Remus' own steps for months.

"What about the small children that I teach?" he asked. Remus had spent the last 5 years teaching pre-Hogwart's age children - most of whom wouldn't attend Hogwarts due to them not having enough of a power level or for other various reasons.

"Isn't there anyone else who can cover for you?" Albus watched a myriad of emotions go through Remus' eyes.

"Hmm. I supposed I could ask a friend to take over but what about my condition? They'll be 2 days every month that I won't be able to teach."

"I can talk to Severus about brewing your potion for you. As for your needing to miss class, I'll make sure that they are covered."

Remus pondered the situation. In the end it was the pull of seeing Harry again that made him say yes.

"Excellent! As soon as you find proper defense books, let me know so I can send out the booklists."

"I'll head to Flourish and Blotts now to see what they have."

They talked for another few minutes before Remus left.

Albus' smile then turned into a grimace. The next step was to inform Severus of this. He would have to remember to erect a shield again.

It wasn't going to be pretty. In fact, he expected some form of blood shed to occur.

* * *

"You did what?"

"He can help keep an eye on Harry."

"Albus, he's a werewolf!"

"And with you brewing the Wolfsbane Potion for him, he'll be perfectly fine."

"He will help Black get into the castle!"

"I don't believe that Severus. Black betrayed his friendship as well. Remus can help us watch Harry," the Headmaster reiterated.

"Albus, please reconsider."

Albus sighed. "Put aside whatever differences you had when you were a boy. People change as they grow older. He isn't the same person that once tormented you."

Severus scoffed. "I'll brew the potion for him but he needs to take it exactly as I say."

Albus smiled. "Thank you my boy." He watched Severus storm out of his office then realized that had been easier than it should have been.

The Headmaster's eyes narrowed in contemplation.

* * *

Towards the end of July, Albus finally had his chat with Myrtle.

"May I come in Myrtle?"

"Sure. Everyone else does."

"Who all has come to see you?"

Myrtle peered at the Headmaster as she pushed up her glasses.

"They won't get into trouble. I'm just curious."

"Well, Harry came to see me. His two friends were also in here. They brewed a potion in that stall." She pointed to a stall at the far end of the bathroom. "Once that teacher was with Harry."

"Myrtle, why did you not tell anyone that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was here all along?"

"I didn't know. Harry asked me how I died, and I told him and he figured it out. I offered to share my stall with him should he die," she added as an after thought.

Albus thought she sounded awful cheerful.

"Thank you Myrtle."

The Headmaster then turned his attention to the sink Harry had said it was. He eventually located the one that didn't work but nothing he did to it would open it.

After 30 minutes, he gave up and returned to his office.

* * *

Deep within Gringotts', a scroll still sat waiting to be found.

* * *

A/N: I imagine I'm going to get some comments on the cop scene about how the cop should have investigated or would have investigated and how it would have been wrong to leave in that situation where Harry was obviously not being taken good care of by his aunts comments but the cop is just chalking it up to boys will be boys. It being a mostly good neighborhood, this would be an anomaly (more or less) so the cop decides to let it go, assuming that if the boy needs medical attention then his aunt will take him to get it.


	44. Summertime Happenings

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 44

* * *

Harry was going on day four of no food. Ron had called from Egypt and his Uncle had answered the phone. It had not been pretty, especially since his uncle was still upset over the police incident. Harry shuddered at the memory.

He glanced at the clock.

11:58 PM

In two minutes he would be thirteen. It looked to be a miserable birthday. Marge would be coming later that day.

Sighing, he returned to the Quidditch magazine he was reading. (It was the one that he had managed to get out of his trunk earlier that summer.)

A little after midnight he wished himself a Happy Birthday and put his magazine under the loose floorboard. He then went to the window to get some air.

Harry suddenly grinned. He recognized Hedwig flying at him with a package tied to her legs.

His birthday might not be so bad after all.

The next morning, while Harry fixed everyone breakfast, the news flashed over about Sirius Black - an escaped convict.

The sight of him stirred something deep in Harry's brain but he couldn't put his finger on what it stirred.

His Aunt Petunia however gasped and dropped her tea cup.

"Petunia, dear, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Clean this up boy."

Harry sighed and after he placed breakfast on the table, he cleaned up the broken cup.

He had been allowed some toast before being sent upstairs. He glanced at the TV one last time before skulking up to his room to wait on Aunt Marges' arrival.

* * *

_August 10__th__, 1993_

_Ripper (Marge's dog) bit me - again. Marge told my uncle that she didn't care for the way my eyes glazed over when she started talking about me, (I've been tuning her out), and the only cure for that was a cane._

_However, she left her cane at home so she decided that Ripper's teeth was the next best thing. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I'm already at my wit's end._

_-Harry_

* * *

Harry was in a slight panic. He had just blown up his aunt, caused the cupboard to unlock with accidental magic and was now currently sitting on the side of the road in muggle Surrey.

He was also very angry at his relatives. How dare they say that about his mom and dad? They were not drunks and they sure as bloody hell were not wastrel's!

Looking around, he figured that since he was more than likely already expelled he could just cast a light weight charm on his trunk and, using his broom, fly to the Leaky Cauldron. Once he got there, he would figure the rest out.

As he was digging around in his trunk for his invisibility cloak, he heard a twig snap.

Harry stood straight up, wand at the ready but didn't see anyone.

Thinking he was just hearing things, he resumed digging until he heard it again.

When he stood up that time he raised his wand higher. Just as he saw a black dog standing in the street light, wagging its tail as if it was excited to see him, he heard BANG!

Harry narrowly threw himself out of the way of the big purple triple decker bus that had just appeared out of nowhere.

* * *

"He's not there Albus. Jankins from the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad searched the surrounding area too."

Albus frowned at the head of the Minister of Magic in his fire place.

"I don't think that he can contact his best friends at the moment so he might head for the Leaky Cauldron. He probably assumes he's done enough accidental magic that he's expelled. He will most likely fly there on his broom."

Cornelius pondered that. "I'll head there myself to check."

"Keep me informed."

The head nodded before it vanished out of the fireplace.

Albus sighed. He stood up to tinker with one of his instruments. Tuning it to Harry, he saw that it said traveling, so he hoped he was alright.

* * *

Harry could not believe his luck.

He had 3 Dursley free weeks ahead of him.

The next morning, he refilled his money bags and looked through some of the items around the vault. There were papers, books, and other random stuff scattered around the room. In the back of the vault he found a door.

"Grishnek, what's behind here?"

The goblin blinked. Mr. Potter should not be able to see that door yet.

Harry turned around to look at the goblin.

"When you turn 17, you'll get a key to open it, per instructions in your parents will."

"Why when I'm 17, why not now?"

"Because you are not considered an adult in the wizarding world until you turn seventeen."

Harry scowled but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it.

Stepping outside of Gringott's he headed towards Madam Malkin's. He needed new robes plus he wanted new muggle clothes. He hated his cousins' old things.

By the end of the day he had new clothes, new potion ingredients, his new books (plus a couple of extra defense ones), and the rest of his school supplies.

He made his way back to his room at the Leaky Cauldron and collapsed until it was dinner time with a grin on his face.

* * *

"How can there be no sign of Black?" demanded Severus. "Are all the Auror's that incompetent?"

"They're looking Severus. In the mean time Harry is safe under many watchful eyes in the Leaky Cauldron and in Diagon Alley."

"Did you ever figure out how he blew up his aunt?"

"Accidental magic from what Cornelius said."

Severus raised a brow. "A little too old for that isn't he?"

Albus chuckled. "I don't know about that Severus. When I originally told you about Sirius, you exploded a tea cup."

The potion's master growled.

A couple days later, Severus had to go to Diagon Alley for a few things.

As he was leaving the Apothecary, he saw Harry sitting outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour working on his homework - of all things.

The boy was really thin, like he hadn't ate a full mean since leaving Hogwarts, but surely that couldn't be right. Severus frowned. Just then, Potter looked up.

Severus simply nodded hello and headed towards Knockturn Alley - therefore missing the shocked expression on Harry's face at the simple acknowledgment.

* * *

Harry was currently sitting on his bed in the Leaky Cauldron. He was trying to forge his aunt and uncle's signature on his Hogsmeade permission form but no matter how many times he tried - it wouldn't work.

Sighing in frustration, he got up and put it in his trunk then went to bed. With the way his luck ran, he figured he would be the only third year not going.

* * *

It was August 31st and Harry assumed that he would just see Ron and Hermione on the train to Hogwarts.

He made his way out to Diagon Alley and started to head towards the shop the Firebolt was in to oogle it some more when he heard a familiar voice.

Ron had yelled at him. He was sitting with Hermione.

Before they headed off to the magical creature shop so that Hermione could get her owl, Harry spied her books.

"Are you planning on sleeping this year?" he asked her.

"Of course I am."

"When? Can you imagine how much homework you'll have with that many classes?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'll manage."

* * *

"Albus, I don't think his relatives feed him."

"Why would they not? You know how boys look when they go through growth spurts."

"Except he _isn't_ growing," hissed Severus.

Albus sighed. The potions master had been lost in thought the past couple of days so Albus had cornered him. He was surprised when Severus had blurted out what he did.

"I'll question Harry once school starts."

Severus nodded and swept away. He couldn't stand the thought of a child being abused - especially Lily's child. That thought alone made his blood boil.

And Merlin knows he remembered how Petunia was while growing up.

* * *

_August 31, 1993_

_Sirius Black is after me._

_It's all clear now. I wasn't expelled because the Minister was just happy to see me alive._

_Why is everyone so hell bent on killing me?_

_Do I have some sort of dark aura around me?_

_Dumbledore knows. I know that he does. I asked him back in my first year. He told me that I was too young to know. I'm going to ask him again this year._

_I'm not too young now._

_-Harry_

* * *

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Prisoner of Azkaban book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Some of what's written in the Prisoner of Azkaban will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)

A/N: I know that some people are wondering if the secret will be coming out soon. I've decided to put you all out of your misery and tell you that someone will find out the truth ... eventually .. one of these days ... in the future. ;-)

*hides from the mob*


	45. Train Rides and Schedules

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

A/N: Sorry for the format of the schedule. I hate the issue that fanfiction has with tables.

A/N: It's a fairly short chapter. I think the next one is longer. ;)

* * *

Chapter 45

* * *

"Where is Professor Lupin?" asked Minerva as the pre-term staff meeting let out.

"He is riding the train here that way he can be on board should anything happen."

"Surely Black wouldn't dare try to get on the train."

"It's not him I'm worried about. The Dementors said that they might search the train. I told them not to but I can't control them beyond the borders of Hogwarts."

Minerva went pale at the thought of the Dementors. She, like the rest of the staff, had protested very loudly when Albus had said that they would be stationed around the school all year long.

* * *

Remus had been feigning sleep during the train ride. He had never expected Harry and his friends to sit in a cabin with a teacher but it certainly did make things easier.

He was surprised that Harry already knew Sirius was after him. At one point, he peeked his eyes open and saw a mini-James laughing with his friends, except the boy had Lily's eyes.

Remus wondered just how much Harry knew of his past.

Albus had updated him on the boy's first two years at Hogwarts - how he had managed to escape Voldemort two other times.

He had been stunned.

Remus had actually been starting to drift between that state when you're sleeping and when you're awake when the lights suddenly went out in the compartment and the train stopped.

He sat up straight.

"Quiet!" he yelled over all the commotion.

He conjured a harmless ball of flames in his hand to look around. Where there had been three people before, there were now five. He felt the chill of the Dementor, long before he saw it.

"Sirius Black is not here!" he said as the door was opened by one of them.

The Dementor looked around and, to Lupin's horror, headed straight towards Harry.

"We are not hiding Black. Leave. Now!"

The Dementor made no sign of leaving so Remus wordlessly sent a Patronus at it. That chased it away from them.

When he turned around, he saw Harry on the floor.

He swiftly knelt down and lightly tapped Harry on the face.

"Wake up Harry. C'mon, wake up."

Slowly the boy came around. After Remus gave everyone chocolate, he headed up to the front of the train to send a letter to Albus.

* * *

Albus was just entering the Great Hall when an owl flew in and headed towards him.

After he relieved it of its burden, he read the note.

_Albus,_

_The Dementors searched the train and obviously found nothing. However, Harry passed out when one went after him. He's fine now. I've given him and those in his compartment chocolate. We should be pulling into the Hogsmeade train station in fifteen minutes._

_Remus_

"Minerva, when you talk to Ms. Granger, pull Harry aside as well. Have Poppy look him over."

"Why? What happened?"

"The Dementors searched the train and one went after Harry."

"Is he alright?"

Albus nodded. "I want Poppy to give him a once over just to be sure."

Minerva headed off to wait on the carriages while muttering how the Dementors were going to be a mess of trouble this year.

Neither of them had noticed Severus' alarmed look at the mention of the dementors' focusing on Harry.

* * *

Severus glared at Remus. Just because Albus said the man changed doesn't mean he actually did.

Sure Lupin hadn't been as big of a bully as Black and Potter had been but the wolf could have stepped in a few times - not that Severus would have accepted the help.

"Evening Severus."

"Lupin."

Remus just sighed and turned towards the sorting ceremony. He imagined that it was going to be a long year.

* * *

"I guess this means no Hogsmeade visits at all if I can't use my cloak," groaned Harry to Ron and Hermione as they entered the Gryffindor common room.

"Well what did you expect. Besides, you're safer in the castle," said Hermione.

"Ask McGonagall Harry."

"Honestly Ron, Harry should -"

"Yeah, maybe I will," Harry cut in.

Hermione huffed and went up the stairs to the girls dorm.

Harry and Ron headed up the stairs to the boys dorm to unpack.

After Harry unpacked, he remade his calendar for the new year and went to take a shower.

"Ron?" Neville hesitantly asked when he was sure that Harry was gone.

"Yeah?" The red head was trying to hang his Chudley Canon Poster up straight so that the inhabitants wouldn't fall over.

"Can you do any of the spells Harry cast for the calendar he just made?"

Ron looked back over his shoulder. "I've never tried. Why?"

"Because it's really advanced stuff. I saw him make it last year. I tried but I suck at charms so it didn't work."

Ron shrugged. "Harry's power level is more than most peoples so it doesn't surprise me he can cast things the rest of us can't yet."

Neville's eyes widened in surprise.

"Don't tell me that you can't feel the surges of magic that goes through the room when he's angry, upset, or even excited over something," Ron asked incredulously.

"I noticed but I'm surprised you did."

Ron threw a pair of socks at Neville. "I'm not completely unobservant and besides, he blew his aunt up this summer with accidental magic."

Neville's eyes widened even more.

Ron grinned as he ducked the flying socks that Neville threw back at him. "I asked my dad about that and he said that the reason Harry is still doing accidental magic is because his body is still getting used to how much magic it holds."

"My Gran does accidental magic occasionally - normally when I've done something stupid," muttered Neville.

Ron chuckled as he hung up his school robes. "Oh, the occasional bout of accidental magic is normal. Dad says it happens with swift mood changes but the reason it happens around Harry so much more is because he and his powers are still growing."

Just then Dean and Seamus came in so Neville and Ron ended their conversation.

When Harry returned, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep, completely unaware of the conversation that had just taken place about him.

* * *

Harry woke early, much to his annoyance. He had a nightmare about Voldemort again. At least the silencing charm he threw on himself had kept him from waking anyone else up.

Pointing his wand at himself he whispered, "Finite Incatatem". With the spell gone, he got dressed and went to the common room.

When his dorm mates found him, he was reading a Quidditch magazine.

* * *

Severus was watching Potter at breakfast. He didn't look as thin as he did that day in Diagon Alley. Maybe he had over re-acted. It wouldn't be the first time. He noticed that Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger had a growth spurt over the summer.

Harry looked about the same height as he did last year.

Severus frowned. Lily had been almost six feet and Potter had been over six feet tall.

'Maybe its just not hit him yet,' he silently mused.

"Good morning Severus."

"Lupin."

"Looking forward to the school year?"

Severus simply glared at him before returning to his food.

* * *

Harry didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he looked down at his schedule.

Monday... Tuesday... Wednesday... Thursday... Friday

Breakfast ...–... – ... –... –

Astronomy ... Divination ... Herbology ... Divination ... Free Period

Break ...– ... – ... – ... –

Free Period .. Transfiguration . Transfiguration . Transfiguration. History of Magic

Break ... – ... – ... – ... –

Ancient Runes . DADA ... History of Magic ... Charms ... Ancient Runes

Lunch ... – ... – ... – ... –

Herbology ... CoMC ... Charms ... CoMC ... Herbology

Break ... – ... – ... - ... –

Potions ... Charms ... DADA ... Potions ... DADA

Break ... – ... –... – ... –

History of Magic Free Period ...Free Period ... Potions ...Astronomy

Dinner ... – ... – ... – ... –

*Free Periods: Students are reminded that during their free periods they are to be in the library, their common rooms, or study hall. Any student found wandering the halls will be punished.

Harry glanced at Ron's schedule. He had two more free periods since he wasn't taking Ancient Runes.

"Let's go. I need to grab my things."

As Harry walked to the dorms, he wondered what on earth he had been thinking.

* * *

A/N: I know that a lot of people are upset that this is basically the same story written over as the original and I apologize for it. I do try to spice things up by giving the scene a different view point. In my head, it just seems weird to go from the summer to .. say .. Christmas when the next major thing happens. (Not that it'll be Christmas before the next major thing happens ... :P) Very soon (like in a chapter or two, I'd have to check actually) some things are going to be coming to light and it's going to break away from the original story some more. I've written several chapters ahead. Since I changed a major plot thing in my story to happen sooner than it normally would have, I've had to re-write a few other things to make better sense. My re-editing has been going very well, which is why you're getting another chapter so soon. =)

If things keep's going well, then maybe tomorrow or the next day I can get another chapter up!

I appreciate all the reviews and I'm sorry for those that I have bored to death. :( For those that are sticking with me. Don't worry. I'm still writing. =)


	46. Boggarts

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 46

* * *

Harry was walking in a slight daze to Transfiguration after his Divination class. The perfumes and incense clogged his mind rather than cleared it. He kept thinking about what Trelawney had said about the grim - and how the dog on Privet Drive had looked just like the picture in his book.

Before he realized it, he was seated next to Ron and Hermione in Transfiguration.

Harry looked up just in time to see McGonagall turn into her animagus form.

He suddenly had a flash back to his first year, to when he was in the back of the library and groaned with mortification.

It was the same cat.

Harry then realized that Hermione was talking.

"I'm sorry Professor. We just came from Divination."

McGonagall pursed her lips. "I see. And just who is going to die this year?"

The entire class looked startled.

"I am," mumbled Harry.

McGonagall pursed her lips into a very thin line. "Well, let me assure you Mr. Potter that if you die, you need not turn in your homework."

The entire room laughed.

* * *

"Headmaster, a boggart appears to have moved into the closet in the staff room. I was wondering if I could use it for my third years tomorrow?"

Albus smiled. "Certainly Remus. I'll inform the rest of the staff to leave it alone."

Just then Hagrid came flying into the Headmaster's office.

"Headmaster, it was an accident. Malfoy insulted it even after I explained that they were proud creatures! He's a good hippogriff - honest!"

"Hagrid, calm down."

Hagrid most certainly wasn't calming down. He was still pacing around the room, obviously very agitated.

"Hagrid!"

"What?" He looked up, slightly startled.

"Sit down and start from the beginning."

Hagrid sat down and explained about how he had introduced Buckbeak to his third year's and why Malfoy was now in the hospital wing.

* * *

"It's the first day back and we already have enough homework for an entire week!" complained Ron to Harry and Hermione as they entered the Gryffindor common room.

Harry grimaced. They had just finished with dinner and grabbed some chairs and a table and threw their book bags on it and began removing their things to get started on some of their assignments.

Just then Oliver Wood came over. "Practice Friday after dinner. I'll hand out our schedule then."

"He didn't look too thrilled with you," commented Ron, very much surprised after Oliver had walked away.

"My schedule isn't conducive for any earlier training sessions," growled Harry as he mimicked Wood's voice. He had been ambushed by Wood while leaving the loo during one of the breaks.

Ron laughed. That certainly sounded like something Oliver would say.

* * *

Everyone was howling with laughter when the boggart Snape appeared dressed in a dress with a vulture hat.

That certainly made Harry feel better. He had just had a horrible Herbology class in which a venomous tentacula thought it'd be cute and hit him in the back of the head.

Hard.

While everyone lined up to have a go at the boggart Harry thought about what scared him the most. Voldemort was the first thing that popped into his mind, but then he remembered the Dementor.

An imaginary chill gripped him.

Harry looked up in time to see Ron make his boggart spider start tap dancing.

Eventually it was Harry's turn. While it was still forming, Lupin jumped in front of him which made it take the shape of a full moon.

"Riddikulus," he said lazily. "Forward Neville, finish it off!"

Everyone watched as Boggart Snape appeared in a dress again and laughter from the class did indeed make it explode in a flurry of tiny pieces.

Harry walked dazed from the class. Lupin had purposefully not let him face the boggart. Did he think him so weak that he'd pass out again?

* * *

Harry had just finished up his Ancient Runes homework when he saw Crookshanks (Hermione's cat) chase Scabbers through the common room.

"Catch that cat!" yelled Ron.

Five or six people dived for it but they all missed.

"Hermione keep that thing away from Scabbers. He's ill. He needs rest and relaxation."

"Oh c'mon Ron. He's just doing what all cats do."

"Scabbers was here first. Just keep that fur ball away."

Hermione huffed, picked up Crookshanks, and went up to the girls dormitory. Ron grabbed Scabbers out from under a bookshelf and headed up to the boys dormitory.

Harry just sighed and proceeded to bang his head on the books in front of him, which caused Neville and Dean to snicker.

* * *

"What are you up to Harry?" asked Lupin.

Harry was currently coming in from Quidditch practice - drenched to the bone.

"I think Oliver wants to make sure we know how to breathe in water while flying and live to tell about it."

Remus chuckled. "It's almost curfew. You better hurry up to your dorm."

Harry nodded. "G'nite Professor."

"G'nite Harry."

* * *

"Come now Severus, I didn't realize that his greatest fear would be you." The story of Neville's boggart was still going around, nearly two weeks after the incident.

"I'm not upset that his greatest fear was me, I'm upset that you had him dress me in Augusta Longbottoms' outfit."

Albus snickered in a corner which got a glare sent his way.

"If I hear one word of this again, I'm liable to murder you Lupin." That said, Severus stormed from the staff room.

Lupin just groaned. "He's never going to forgive me is he?"

Albus smiled. "Just give him time Remus."

Remus looked skeptical but nodded and resume his grading - which Severus had interrupted.

* * *

A scream went up in the night time air.

"It's him Jim! Call that number that was on the TV!"

Sirius sighed and ran into some neighboring woods. Once there he transformed into a dog and continued his journey north.

He would try for food again at the next town.

* * *

"Gralkin, I'm still detecting an alarm in the old will vault."

"It was the Apperly will. I thought I disabled it when I was down there last week."

"This is a different one. The alarm has been going off now for over 3 months according to my paperwork and it seems that whoever wrote it added their own spells. It's interfering with my ability to see the will owner's name."

Gralkin sighed. "I'll get it next time I'm down there. Whatever it is can surely wait a little while longer. I'm up to my eyes in current wills."

Grimstein nodded and headed back to his office after telling the goblin to get to it sooner rather than later.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the delay. I've written at least 140 hand written pages over the past few days. Actually, I'm nearly done w/ book 4. Book 3 starts heading into more of an alternate universe ... but sticks to the same basic premise of the original story. You'll see what I mean ... soon ... like in a chapter or two. I don't remember which one it is. *get's a shady look*

Anyway, I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow or the next day. =)

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Prisoner of Azkaban book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)


	47. October of '93

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 47

* * *

_October 17__th__, 1993_

_I'm so tired that I can barely see straight but I can't sleep. My nightmares are happening every night. I see Voldemort, dead unicorns, Basilisks trying to eat me, and Dementors now haunt my dreams too._

_I've finally realized that what I hear every time a Dementor gets near me is my mother giving up her life for mine._

_That's not how I wanted to remember her._

_I finally got caught up on my homework. A person would think that with all the studying I'm doing and with Quidditch practice every night, I'd be too tired to dream._

_As an aside, I really like Ancient Runes. While it doesn't seem to come as natural to me as defense, charms, or even potions, it's not that hard - at least not yet._

_Hagrid seems to have lost his confidence in teaching. We've been taking care of flobberworms in Care of Magical Creatures._

_Malfoy is still moping around with his arm in a bandage. He's faking it. Everyone knows that._

_I'm going to go stare at my canopy some more. Maybe I'll get lucky and finally fall asleep._

_-Harry_

* * *

Severus eyed Potter with hidden concern as he and his friends left his classroom. The boy looked okay but his movement indicated that he hadn't slept in over a week.

"Ron, I'm going up to take a nap. If I'm not at dinner, make sure you wake me up because if I miss practice, Oliver will murder me."

"Harry, you won't be able to sleep tonight if you take a nap," said Hermione.

Severus barely heard the reply. "What else is new?" He frowned at the boys retreating form.

* * *

The pitch darkness was startling. A noise nearby caused Harry to jump slightly, reflexively raising his wand - only to realize he didn't have his wand.

Suddenly a dementor passed right in front of him - engulfing him in bone chilling coldness.

Harry opened his mouth to scream and fell out of his bed.

Another nightmare.

He sighed, looking around as he picked himself up. After removing the silencing charm on himself he saw that he was still alone.

It had apparently only been 45 minutes since he had left Ron and Hermione. Harry knew that if he didn't get some sleep soon, he was going to go stir crazy. He had noticed an increase in his accidental magic 10 fold over the past two weeks. He glanced at the freshly repaired dorm clock. It had went off the other morning and scared him senseless causing him to accidently blow it up. The explosion had woke the rest of his dorm mates.

He sighed again. It was time to go to Madam Pomphrey.

Harry quickly reapplied his glamour to the circles under his eyes before venturing up to the hospital wing. (He had looked up glamours during the past month when he realized that he was starting to look like a zombie.)

"Madam Pomphrey?"

"Yes Mr. Potter? Something wrong?"

Harry sighed. "Is there anything you can give me for sleep?"

She got up, scanned him, and frowned. "When was the last time you slept?"

"Well ..." he hedged. He didn't want to admit any weakness but knew he needed the help.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me."

He sighed again. "It's been at least 3 weeks since I've slept through the night. I keep having nightmares."

"You don't look like you've been deprived of sleep but your scans show that you're exhausted."

Harry removed his glamours. He watched her eyes widen in surprise. She then began bustling around and tsking. A minute later she returned with a potion.

"This is a dreamless sleep potion. You can take one sip of it once a week. It's highly addictive."

Harry looked at the little bottle. "That barely looks like enough for one sip," he exclaimed.

Madam Pomphrey scowled. "This is two doses. Come see me again if after two doses you are still unable to sleep."

"Can we keep this between us Madam Pomphrey?"

"Certainly Mr. Potter. I'll see you again in two weeks."

He nodded his thanks, took the vial, and went up to his dorm to store it before heading out to the Quidditch Pitch. He wasn't hungry enough for dinner.

* * *

Harry was currently in detention with McGonagall. He had accidently vanished Neville's hair and then had turned his friends skin a neon green color during the days practical - something that most likely would not have happened had he done his homework.

Yesterday, after Quidditch practice, he had taken a very small sip from the vial Madam Pomphrey had given him and slept nearly ten hours. He couldn't remember if he dreamed but assumed that he didn't.

He idly wondered why it had never occurred to him before to check to see if there was a potion that could have helped him.

After detention, Harry went to hunt down Neville again to apologize.

* * *

"Any third years not going to Hogsmeade this year?" Albus asked during one of the staff meetings.

When no one else spoke up, Minerva did. "Potter can't go. He said his uncle didn't understand Hogwarts' forms. He asked me to sign it but as that would be inappropriate, I told him that I couldn't."

"Anyone else?"

They all shook their heads.

"Alright. Unless there's anything else, we're done."

Severus approached the Headmaster after everyone had left. "Well it should be easier to keep an eye on Potter if he can't go to Hogsmeade."

Albus nodded. "I'm afraid he'll still try to go and honestly, I wouldn't blame him what with being the only third year left behind."

"That cloak won't be able to protect him from the Dementors."

"I know Severus," said Albus.

* * *

"Hermione, you need to keep that cat on a leash! I'm telling you that he has it in for Scabbers!"

Hermione turned red in the face. "Oh honestly Ronald. I keep telling you that he's just doing what all cat's do."

"I don't see any other cats chasing Scabbers, it's just your furball that's doing it."

Hermione huffed off in one direction while Ron took off in another.

Seamus, who had just came into the Gryffindor common room asked, "They fighting again?"

Harry simply nodded. He hated it when Hermione and Ron fought, which was all they seemed to do anymore.

* * *

_October 29, 1993_

_I've finally been able to sleep every night the past week. I feel so much better. I reckon I just needed one good nights sleep to make me sleep normal again._

_Ron and Hermione are still fighting and ignoring each other because of Crookshanks chasing Scabbers. They're driving me batty._

_The first Hogsmeade visit is Sunday (Halloween). I'm sure I'll be able to find something to do._

_Oliver told us last night that we're playing Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin in the first game because of Malfoy's arm. They just don't want to play in this weather - not that I blame them._

_I've not been properly dry since August._

_-Harry_

* * *

Severus stopped dead in his tracks. He was bringing Lupin the wolfs bane potion. However he was not expecting to see Lupin and Potter chatting.

"Ah, Severus. Thank you. I was just showing Harry my Grindylow specimen."

"How delightful," sneered Severus. "I made a whole cauldron full this time."

"Thank you. I'll probably take some tomorrow too."

Severus narrowed his eyes but nodded. He then stormed from the room.

* * *

Remus looked at the clock. It was almost time for the feast to start. He was waiting on Severus to come back to his office. Not because Severus had said he was coming back but because he knew the man.

And sure enough ...

"Enter." Remus smiled at the potions master standing in the doorway. "Can I help you with something Severus?"

"What did you and Potter talk about this afternoon?"

"Nothing about you Severus," said Remus.

"Lupin ..."

Remus sighed. "Severus, I would never tell him anything about your past."

"Planned on telling him about what your buddies Potter and Black got up to in the past?" asked Severus, seemingly ignoring what Remus had just said.

Remus' hackles raised but he kept himself calm. He had, after all, been expecting this. "Severus, I would not tell him anything that would harm his opinion of you."

Severus opened his mouth in sheer disbelief.

"But if he does ask me about James and Lily, I will give him some details. He was 15 months old when they died. I doubt he can remember them at all. Now, as for your question, we discussed the grindylow and why I wouldn't let him face the boggart that day in class."

Severus mind stopped working. Finally, it latched onto the thing that Lupin said last. "Why wouldn't you let him face the boggart?"

Remus had taken a step back and turned around to calm himself. "Because I thought Voldemort appearing in the staff room would have been a bad idea."

Severus merely said, "Oh."

"However, I need not have worried. Voldemort is not Harry's greatest fear." Remus turned around to look Severus in the eyes. "Fear is. His boggart is a Dementor. The feast is about to start. I suggest we go to it before Albus comes to make sure we aren't murdering each other."

That said, Remus left Severus standing in his office and headed towards the feast.

* * *

"Professor Dumbledore, the Fat Lady's portrait was slashed!"

That stopped Albus and several professors mid-step.

"What?"

They all ran towards Gryffindor Tower.

Albus breathed a sigh of relief as he passed Harry on the stairs. That meant he was safe. Then he caught sight of the painting.

He carefully examined the portrait. It looked like it had been cut with a knife.

"Search the portraits Mr. Filch. We need to find the Fat Lady."

"You won't find her your Headmastership. Ashamed she is," cackled Peeves as he floated upside down.

Albus turned around to stare at the Poltergeist.

"Did you see what happened Peeves?"

The Poltergeist grinned as if he was holding a big bomb shell.

"She wouldn't let him in because he didn't have the password. Nasty tempter he's got, that Sirius Black."

Everyone gasped.

"Mr. Filch, secure the castle. Students, go straight to the Great Hall."

Albus watched as Harry frowned at the portrait and his friends dragged him away.

"Severus, alert the other teachers and have them take their students to the Great Hall as well."

He nodded and swooped off.

"The rest of you, follow me," said Albus.

* * *

Harry was currently listening to Dumbledore receive reports from different professors that each section of the castle they searched was empty.

"I tried several tracking spells Albus. They all fizzled out. That means he can either do advanced wandless magic or he has gotten his hands on a wand somewhere."

Albus frowned. "All right. I really didn't expect him to linger. We'll move the students back in their dorms tomorrow morning."

"How do you suppose he got in Headmaster?"

"I'm unsure."

"Surely you don't think he did this alone?" Snape asked in a near silent whisper that Harry almost missed.

Albus looked at Severus and frowned. "Not a single person would have helped him to get in here." The tone told the potions master the subject was closed which made Harry frown.

"What about Potter? Should he be warned?"

"Something tells me that he already knows," said the Headmaster as he glanced down where he was laying. "But we'll keep an extra eye on him."

Harry done his best to stifle a groan.

* * *

"I can't locate the will that is setting off the alarm. I've searched up to 10 years back. I must have missed it," the goblin said after he had sat down in a chair across from his boss.

"Take some of the apprentices and have them hunt with you. If they still don't find it, go further back."

The goblin sighed. "Very well. We really need to make these vaults non-resistant to our magic."

"So you and every other goblin tell me."

* * *

A/N: In case you're wondering why the goblins are having such a hard time searching for the ringing will, it's because the vaults are resistant to all types of magic this AU world ... human and goblin. The reason being that if a thief is going to spend the time searching through ... let's say the will's to find out which vault has the most treasures in it, well, they will be caught since it has to be done by hand. It's a good system in that way, but as the goblins are finding out ... a PIA when a will rings that has modifications to it. hehe

And don't worry, they'll find it soon. ;-)

As an aside ... who thinks Remus is hiding something? *grins mischievously*


	48. Quidditch and Potions

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 48

* * *

Security did indeed increase around Harry. So much that teachers had started finding excuses to walk around him.

He was about to go homicidal on someone.

As it was, he was already in a foul mood, having just witnessed Ron and Hermione fighting again, when Snape suddenly swooped into the defense classroom.

"Turn to page 394."

"Where's Professor Lupin?" asked Harry.

"That is none of your concern. Turn to page 394."

"But sir, we're not supposed to start nocturnal beasts for another couple of months," said Hermione.

Harry and Ron both jumped. She hadn't been there a second ago. "Where did you come from?" hissed Ron.

"I've been here the whole time."

Harry just shrugged at Ron. It wasn't the first time this year that she had just seemingly appeared out of thin air.

"Who can tell me the difference between an animagus and a werewolf? No one? Pity."

Hermione's hand was in the air. "Please sir. An animagus is someone that elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf is someone that has no choice. Furthermore - "

"That is the second time you've spoken out of turn Ms. Granger. Ten points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all."

"What did you ask for if you didn't want to know the answer?" asked Ron, very much upset.

Instantly, the class knew that he had gone too far.

"Detention Weasley. See me after class to schedule it. Page three hundred and ninety four! Now!"

* * *

Harry was desperately trying to stay on his broom and on course. The wind and rain was blowing hard and to beat it all, it had begun to lightning.

It appeared that something good had come from all those practices in the rain though.

He had become desensitized to the numbing cold.

Albus and Severus were watching with extreme concern as Harry flew higher and higher, side by side with Cedric Diggory (the Hufflepuff seeker). The way Harry was flying left even Severus impressed with the young man's skills.

The lightning flashed which made the snitch illuminate again.

The wind was so strong that it was blowing the rain sideways.

Harry saw the snitch and pushed his broom even further. Cedric's weight was definitely an advantage in this type of weather. He didn't get blown off balance as much.

"Albus, Potter and Diggory are too high," Severus heard Minerva hiss.

Harry felt them before he saw them. The snitch had shifted downward and Cedric was chasing it. But the dementor that just flew in front of Harry caused him to take defensive action.

He reversed in mid-air and headed the other direction only to see about 10 waiting on him.

Suddenly one was in his face and he began to hear his mother in his head begging Voldemort to spare him and take her instead.

It caused him to let go of his broom.

The last thing he remembered was seeing a tiny grim on the outer edge of the Quidditch pitch as he fell to the ground.

Severus felt as if he had been sucker punched when he saw Harry fall. Something inside of him snapped - something primal. While Albus sent a spell slowing the boys' decent, Severus sent a spell to the ground to make it absorb him when he landed - which would cause minimal damage.

"My broom?" asked Harry to Ron and Hermione in the hospital wing.

"Harry it ... er ... hit the whomping willow and well, you know that the whomping willow doesn't like to be hit ..." trailed off Ron.

Hermione handed him a bag that contained what was left of his Nimbus 2000.

Harry just groaned and pulled the pillow over his head.

* * *

Albus was beyond furious at the Dementors and he was just as angry at Cornelius Fudge.

Fudge still refused to remove them and had even yelled at Albus for not letting them on the grounds.

As it was, Albus decided he should turn in before he done something he'd regret later.

Like hex the Minister of Magic.

* * *

Severus entered the hospital room silently and eyed the sleeping form of Potter in one of the infirmary beds. He stole a glance at the record Poppy was keeping on him and saw that he was going to be fine.

He carefully sat in a chair beside of Potters bed and stared at the boy as he slept.

Severus still didn't know what came over him to make him feel such fear as Harry was falling. It was almost the same feeling that he had gotten during the time the boy had been bitten by the basilisk.

He watched as Harry started tossing and turning in his sleep yet he didn't make any sound. It appeared the boy had cast a silencing charm on himself. He raised an eyebrow slightly.

Severus wondered how long this had been going on. Something suddenly came over him and he reached out and carefully moved the boys fringe out of his eyes and murmured, "Shh ... It'll be alright Harry. Sleep peacefully." He traced his finger lightly over the scar on Harry's forehead.

To his shock, the boy stilled his restlessness. Severus got up and backed away. He didn't know what overcame him.

More than confused, he retreated silently back to his quarters.

When Harry woke the next morning, he was surprised at how peacefully he slept and how fully rested he felt. He smiled at the dream he had of his mom and dad playing with him then grimaced as Madam Pomphrey came out of her office holding a potion for him to take.

After Wood had finished trying to drown himself in the showers he had cut back the practices to 3 days a week which gave Harry more time for important things - like playing exploding snap with Ron and sleeping.

His nightmares had abated some, not completely but some, so he was finally able to get a bit more sleep during the week. He had not needed that second dose of dreamless sleep. It was currently tucked away in his trunk for a future use.

* * *

One evening towards the end of November found Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville sitting in the library trying to work on their potions essay.

Actually, Hermione was surrounded by like 10 books so Harry wasn't sure what she was working on. Ron had a Quidditch magazine stuck in his potions manual, so Harry was pretty sure that he wasn't studying.

"This essay makes no sense to me," growled Neville.

Harry looked up to see if Neville was working on potions or if he had moved onto something else.

"What's confusing you about it?" asked Harry. He had 1 of the 2 feet already written.

"The poisonous part?" said Neville with a slight question in his voice.

Harry smiled. "Are any of the ingredients in any shape or form poisonous?"

Neville check his notes. "No."

"Are you sure?" asked Harry.

"Nope," said Neville.

Harry laughed. "Recheck the potion ingredients list then re-look them up."

Neville nodded. He knew Harry wouldn't just come out and give him the answer.

Harry was just putting the finishing touches on his essay when he heard, "ah ha!" from Neville.

"Find something?" he asked grinning.

"Kinda. None of the ingredients if cut up the way the recipe said is poisonous."

"If that's the case, then why is this potion labeled poisonous in the book?"

Neville banged his head on the table which caused a glare to be sent his way from a neighboring table of second years that included Ginny Weasley and Colin Creevey.

Harry took pity on him. "Do you remember what Snape said a few days ago in class about the heat?"

Neville shook his head.

Lurking nearby, under an invisibility charm, Severus listened as Potter explained to Longbottom about the burn salve they would be making in the next potions class.

This wasn't the first time that Severus had over heard him helping someone with potions. It confused him though because he never seemed to display the type of knowledge physically, even though it was obvious he knew the theory behind a potion.

Sure, his Slytherins' sabotaged him occasionally but that didn't account for all of the discrepancies.

Severus pondered this situation. He had a hunch that he would investigate on the next day in class.

Glancing at his watch, he realized that his "babysitting" time was up. He left the library and headed down towards his quarters.

* * *

Severus had just collected the essays from his third years. After he put them down on his desk, he turned to Potter.

"Potter. Why is this recipe poisonous?"

"It contains Henbane sir."

"A lot of recipes contain Henbane. What makes it poisonous in this case?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know sir."

Snape raised an eyebrow.

Hermione's hand went up so fast she nearly knocked Harry's glasses off his face, which elicited a few snickers from the Slytherins.

"Longbottom. Do _you_ know why the henbane is poisonous?"

Neville frowned at Harry. "The h-heat."

The entire class turned around to gape at Neville. It was the first thing he had ever answered correctly in there.

Harry was silently cheering him on.

"This potion brews for how long Parkinson?"

"Thirty minutes, sir." Pansy Parkinson replied.

"Five points to Slytherin."

Severus eyed the room again. "Potter, how do you plan on keeping from poisoning yourself and your classmates if you have to boil the potion."

Harry shrugged.

"You don't know?"

"No sir," lied Harry.

"Detention for obviously not doing your homework. Longbottom?" he asked in a tone that said he doubted the boy would get the answer right again.

"Add it after it's cooled completely," he managed to stutter out.

"Before any of you add the ingredient, I will be checking the potion. I don't relish spending the day telling the Headmaster why someone was poisoned. Get your things and begin."

Severus spent the double class period watching Potter brew a perfect potion - despite his claim of a lack of knowledge.

It appeared that his hunch was correct in that Potter was hiding his intelligence. He wondered why he had never realized that before.

But why? He _would_ find out. After all, his father had never bothered to hide _his_ knowledge.

* * *

"Enter."

Remus entered the Headmaster's office.

"Got a minute Albus?"

"Of course. What did you need?"

"I had a talk with Harry this afternoon. I promised him that I would show him how to cast a patronus."

"Remus, most wizards can't cast one and that spell is well beyond Harry's skill level," stated Albus with a raised eyebrow.

"I have to try Albus. Harry said that every time a dementor gets near him, he can hear Voldemort killing Lily."

Albus paled. "Very well. Just make sure you explain to him that it's advanced so that he doesn't expect too much of himself."

Remus nodded. "I told him I'd start after the holidays. If you run across any boggarts by then let me know."

"Boggarts?" asked Albus confused.

Remus was shocked that Albus didn't already know. "Harry's boggart is a dementor."

Albus' eyes widened. He had assumed that it would be Voldemort. That boy was certainly full of surprises.

* * *

It was currently the end of the holidays. Harry and Ron walked into the boys dorm room to see Neville writing a letter. He had just got back to Hogwarts about an hour before.

"Thanks for the book Neville," said Harry as he threw himself on his bed.

Neville smiled. "My Gran suggested it. She said that since you grew up with muggles you probably didn't know many wizarding traditions and figured you should learn them."

Harry could see that Neville was uncomfortable explaining so he smiled and said, "She's right. The book is fairly interesting."

Neville smiled again.

"Who are you writing to?"

"Gran. I forgot my potions and transfiguration books," he said sheepishly.

"Hey Neville, guess what happened during Christmas dinner," exclaimed Ron.

Harry chuckled because he knew what Ron was bursting to say.

Neville looked up from his letter with a questioning look on his face.

"Snape and Dumbledore pulled a Christmas cracker and a hat with a vulture on it came out. Dumbledore put it on because Snape looked like he was about to kill someone."

Neville groaned around a laugh. "I guess this means that he's going to be horrible for another couple of weeks."

Harry chuckled. "Nah. I'm sure Dumbledore won't let him."

Dean and Seamus came in a few minutes later so Harry listened to their holiday stories - anything to keep his mind off of the Firebolt that was sent to him but was now confiscated because it had an unknown sender.

* * *

A/N: See ... somewhere deep ... very deep inside of him Severus has a fathering side, even if he is unaware that's what it is yet. Some instincts just come naturally it would appear. ;-)

The next chapter has a few things happen out of order than how they did in the book, but I needed them too. Depending how well my editing goes tomorrow, I should have another chapter posted in a couple more days. =)

And for what it's worth, I know that if the time turner was used rightly, Hermione would always have appeared at their side, not just appeared out of nowhere like in the movies ... but I loved the idea of her just appearing between Ron and Harry suddenly when neither of them were looking. It was just too amusing not to put in a chapter somewhere. LOL *halo*


	49. Hogsmeade Visits and Boggarts

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 49

* * *

It was the first Hogsmeade weekend after Christmas vacation. Harry was currently under the table in the Three Broomsticks listening as Flitwick, Hagrid, McGonagall, Madam Rosmerta, and Minister Fudge talked about Sirius Black.

He didn't want to believe a word of what they were saying but he did.

Sirius Black was his godfather - the person his parents trusted over everyone else - and he had betrayed them.

Suddenly Hermione kicked him. Evidently he had been inadvertently making the table shake.

When the coast was clear, they walked down to the shrieking shack. Harry didn't remember the trip. His two best friends (their fight over Crookshanks and Scabbers seemingly forgotten for the moment) tried to bring him out of his inner musings.

Suddenly they heard voices. Harry quickly threw his invisibility cloak over himself and watched as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle came around the corner. A feral grin took over his face. This was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

He bent down and carefully packed a snowball together and eyed Malfoy gleefully.

* * *

Severus was currently replying to a letter from Lucius when there was a knock at his office door.

He got up to open it and saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle looking at him. All three were covered in water and mud and all were out of breath. Goyle still had a chunk of snow in his hair.

"Yes?"

"Sir, Potter's head just attacked us in Hogsmeade," said Malfoy.

Snape raised an eyebrow indicating for him to explain.

"We came upon Weasley and Granger alone near the shrieking shack when something invisible started attacking us and then Potter's head appeared out of no where."

That's all Severus needed to hear. "You three go get cleaned up. I'll take care of Potter."

He watched as they walked away and then he himself stalked off towards the one-eyed witch statue where he had seen Potter earlier.

And sure enough, that's where he found him. He was out of breath, covered in mud and water, and clearly had an "oh crap I'm caught" look about him.

"Potter, follow me."

Harry followed Snape to his office. He knew that he was in serious trouble.

Severus pulled his wand and shut the door then lit the fireplace. He did not miss the flinch Potter made when he had drawn his wand.

"So ..." started Severus.

Harry took a deep breath. He needed steady nerves to try to get out of this - not a hot head.

"So ... everyone from the Minister of Magic on down is doing their best to keep the famous Harry Potter safe but the famous Harry Potter is a law unto himself." Severus was working himself into a full fledged tirade. "You are so extraordinarily like your father. He too thought himself about everyone else. He thought that just because he had talent on the Quidditch Pitch that he could ignore the rules and -"

"Shut up!"

Severus stopped mid step and as he paced back and forth in front of Potter. "Excuse me?"

"I said shut up about my dad." A glass exploded behind Harry. So much for not letting his temper get to him. "I know that he saved your life and that you hate him because of that. The Headmaster told me so."

Severus eyed the broken glass in the floor then eyed Potter. "And did the Headmaster tell you the circumstances that led up to him saving my life?"

The potions master saw the answer in Potters' eyes.

"Well let me dispel you of any heroic notion you may have of your father. He and his friends played a trick on me that had your father not gotten cold feet at the last minute would have resulted in my death."

Severus saw Potter pale. "And you appear to have inherited his ego by thinking that you can get out of anything." He then saw a flare of anger light up in the boys eyes again.

"And you appear to hate me because I look like my dad and no other reason. You don't even seem to realize that I'm my own person, that my name is Harry and _not_ James."

Another glass exploded from somewhere behind him. Harry took a deep breath. He _had_ to get his temper under control.

"Turn out your pockets," snarled Severus not wanting to deal with what Potter had just said.

Harry froze. If he did that then he knew he was screwed.

"Turn out your pockets or we go straight to the Headmaster."

Harry knew that he had no choice now. The Headmaster would put everything together in two seconds.

Severus eyed the Zonko products and looked gleefully at Potter.

Harry shrugged. "Ron got them for me the last time that he went to Hogsmeade."

"And you've been carrying them with you all this time? How endearing. What's this?"

Harry shrugged at the map in Snapes hand. "Just a spare bit of parchment."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Then you won't mind if I throw it in the fire." He made to throw it in the fire.

"No!" yelled Harry.

"That's what I thought." Severus looked at the parchment, pulled his wand out, touched it to the paper, and said, "Reveal your secrets."

Nothing happened. Harry got his breathing under control again.

"I, Severus Snape, command you to show yourself." He tapped the map 3 times with his wand.

Harry watched as the map started showing some writing on it. He could barely make out what it read from where he stood.

"Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of others peoples' business."

To Harry's horror, more appeared.

"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git."

If the situation hadn't been so dire, Harry most likely would have laughed.

"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor."

Harry closed his eyes and groaned. When he opened them, the map had its last word.

"Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day and advises him to wash his hair, the slime ball."

Harry waited for the yelling to start and braced himself for it.

"So. We'll see about this,"

To Harry's confusion, Snape went to the fireplace and fire-called for Lupin.

"Lupin! Get in here! I'd like a word with you!"

Harry watched as Professor Lupin appeared and stepped out of the fireplace.

"I just confiscated a curious artifact from Mr. Potter. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this would you?"

Harry got the impression that Lupin was doing some fast thinking as he looked at the paper in his hand.

"Severus, this merely looks like a piece of parchment that insults anyone who reads it." He laughed lightly.

"And where would he have gotten such a thing?" snarled Snape.

Remus examined the parchment again. "It looks like something one might find in any joke shop."

"Oh really. Are you sure that it didn't come straight from the _manufacturers_?" he hissed.

"Harry, do you know the people that made this?"

Harry shook his head. "No sir."

Just then, Ron came bursting into the room. "I gave that stuff to Harry ages ago," he eventually managed to spit out between gasping breaths.

"There. That's all cleared up now. Harry. Ron. I'd like a word with you about my vampire essay. Have a good day Severus."

Harry and Ron all but ran from the Potion Master's office.

Once the office door closed, Severus walked over to the broken jars. He didn't really care about what was in them. He was more concerned with the fact that they had unbreakable charms on them.

If Potter didn't get a better handle on his emotions, he was liable to seriously hurt someone.

* * *

"Your parents gave up their lives up so that you could live and this is a _very_ poor way to repay them. I want you to head back to the dorms and I'll know if you take any detours."

Harry felt beyond horrible.

He and Ron slowly made their way back to Gryffindor Tower together.

"How did you know where I was Ron?"

"I almost ran over Malfoy and he was practically singing about how you were going to get detention if there was anything left of you."

Harry grimaced. "Where's Hermione?"

"She said that she was going to the common room to wait on us."

* * *

A week after the Hogsmeade incident found Lupin being true to his word by giving Harry patronus lessons. He had been afraid that the professor would back out after what had happened but he didn't.

They were currently sitting in a chair in the defense classroom. Harry had just attempted the patronus against the boggart for the first time.

"I heard my mom again," muttered Harry as he took a bite of chocolate.

"Harry, maybe we shouldn't do this. A patronus is something most wizards can't even do and is well beyond your years."

"Let me think of a different memory. That one just wasn't strong enough." Harry got up and walked around the classroom probing his mind. Finally he settled on winning the house cup last year.

Remus watched as Harry fainted again. He quickly shove the boggart into the trunk.

It took a little longer to rouse him this time.

"I heard my dad. He told mom to run." Harry was visibly shaken.

"You heard James?" asked Remus before he could stop himself.

Harry looked up wide eyed. "He told my mom to take me and run. You knew my dad?"

Remus nodded. "We were best of friends." He handed Harry more chocolate. "This was not a good idea. I'm sorry Harry."

"Please. One more try. I'm not thinking of something happy enough. Give me a minute." Harry went over and looked out of the window.

He eventually thought of the time that Hagrid told him he was a wizard. Just as he was about to turn to try again he remembered the flash of dream he has occasionally where he's being hugged by who he assumes is his dad.

Harry concentrated on both of them and let it fill him up. He then turned and nodded to Lupin.

"Harry are you sure?"

"Just do it."

Remus flicked his wand at the trunk which made it open. He watched with an eyebrow raised as a white shield formed and Harry was able to push the boggart dementor back into the trunk.

Remus also felt a surge of magical energy wash through the room - a very powerful surge so he was unsurprised when Harry staggered after the lid closed.

"Very good Harry. Very, very good. Here eat this so Madam Pomphrey doesn't come after my blood."

Harry smiled. He had heard praise so little in his life that this was a welcome change.

After he ate his chocolate Harry asked, "you said you were best friends with my mom and dad?"

Remus nodded.

"What were they like?"

Remus smiled.

"James was a prankster. He was an excellent flyer and loyal to the bone. He, er, did have a talent for rule breaking that I hear you've picked up." Remus reached over and ruffled Harry's hair which made him turn bright red. "I won't lie to you in that he did have a temper that caused him to hex a few people but as long as you were on his good side, you were generally safe. He was smart - well, when he applied himself."

That made Harry laugh. "What about my mom?" Harry was eager to hear about her. Everyone always talked about his dad.

"Lily was the kindest person that I've ever met. She was there for me during a time when no one else was. She was a very fierce dueler." He then leaned over to whisper in a conspiratorial manner, "I would rather have been hexed by Professor Dumbledore than by her."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise.

"She was fair and very smart. She went on to get her masteries in Charms and Potions."

"She did?" asked Harry.

Remus nodded.

"I never knew that."

"I'll tell you more about them next Thursday at our next lesson."

Harry smiled. Once he got the door he hesitated. "Sir, were you friends with Sirius Black as well?"

Remus froze. "Why would you ask that?"

"I know that he and my dad were friends."

Remus let out a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding. "I was Harry. I thought I knew him well but it appeared that I didn't know him at all. Good night."

Harry recognized the dismissal, bid his goodnight, and headed up to his dorm.

* * *

"Sir, we've gone twelve years back," Gralkin told his superior.

"You still haven't located it?"

"No sir."

"Take Senior Apprentice Stanton down to help you look. Now that the holidays are over you can search faster. The alarm is driving me nuts."

Gralkin nodded before leaving to hunt down Stanton.

* * *

A/N: Warning, Harry will be powerful, but he won't be super powerful. (He won't be able to just squint and make something explode in other words. :P) He will still have to struggle with certain things as well as deal with other childhood issues. Harry is going to be incredibly smart, but don't worry about him out-doing Hermione ... to an extent anyway. (Evil smirk) And to alleviate some fears, he won't all of a sudden wake up and realize woah, I can take on the world! It will be a slow on going process. (Smile)

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Prisoner of Azkaban book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: This chapter made some events happen out of order from the movie and book, but I needed them too. Because of this, in the next chapter, someone's about to get a shock. ;-)


	50. Discoveries

Chapter 50

* * *

_January 29, 1994_

_I don't think Hermione and Ron are ever going to be friends again. It appears that Crookshanks ate Scabbers. I reckon that Crookshanks did it but when Hermione asked me and I told her, she stormed off in a huff._

_My Firebolt is awesome. I still don't know who sent it to me but our match against Ravenclaw is a month away. It gives me plenty of time to get used to it. If we win, we'll still have a shot at the Quidditch Cup. At least all those tests performed on it by McGonagall and Flitwick didn't seem to hurt the broom._

_My Dementor lessons are going alright. I can make a shield constantly but I can't make it charge the dementor down. Lupin says that any shield at all is incredible at my age._

_Professor Lupin has told me a lot about my parents but I get the sense that he's holding something back. Then again, I could just be crazy. He probably doesn't want to tell me all the bad things that they got into because I know that they couldn't have been perfect angels like he makes them out to be._

_-Harry_

* * *

"_Expecto Patronum_!"

Harry watched as a shield formed in front of him. He was able to angle it so that the boggart-dementor was pushed back down into the trunk.

Lupin sent a locking charm at the trunk once the boggart was inside of it.

"Very good Harry. You're getting a lot better at it."

Harry smiled. "Thank you sir." He took the offered piece of chocolate and munched on it quietly. He then looked up and saw Professor Lupin staring at him. "Sir?"

"I'm sorry Harry. I'm just reminiscing. Lily and James would be so proud of you, just like I am. This really is magic far beyond your years."

Harry grinned. "I'm happy that you think so sir. Can you tell me anything else about them?"

"What would you like to know today?"

"Anything sir. All I know about them is what you've been telling me."

"Did your Aunt not tell you anything at all?"

"No sir. Asking questions wasn't allowed."

Remus frowned at that. "Would you like to hear what happened at James first quidditch game?"

Harry smiled and nodded.

* * *

"Sir, I found it!"

Gralkin walked over to where Kornak's apprentice was standing. Sure enough, the vibrating scroll was directly in front of him.

"Finally. You all can clear out now. I'll straighten up the area."

Gralkin put the now silent scroll in his shirt pocket and started straightening up the vault. He was pleased that finding this scroll only took a few months. He remembered a search that lasted nearly 3 full years. The overseer of the bank had to relocate his office temporarily to get away from the constant ringing.

Later that evening, in the privacy of his office, he grimaced at the well known name on the scroll and hoped that there wouldn't be any repercussions for how long that it did take to find.

* * *

"Lupin, can I have a word?"

Remus looked up from grading his essays and saw Severus standing in a doorway with a box in his hand.

"Sure. Come in. What can I do for you?"

"Since you and Potter have become buddy buddy, perhaps you can give this book to him to read."

Remus raised an eyebrow at Severus then eyed the book. "A book on meditation?"

Severus put the box on Lupin's desk. "Examine those."

Perplexed, Remus cast several revealing spells over them. "They have an unbreakable charm on them."

"Yet they're broken. Last month when you rescued Potter from my wrath, he lost his temper twice and this happened."

Remus looked at the broken pieces. "Accidental magic. Very well. I'll give him the book to read tomorrow after class and Severus, for the record, I did not give him that paper. When we were in school, Filch confiscated it so I'm not sure where Harry got it from."

Severus stormed out of the room as a reply.

* * *

The potions' master returned to his quarters after handing Lupin that book. He didn't know what had possessed him to want to help Potter, but he did.

Of course, he doubted that Potter would even read the book, but the boy really did need to keep his temper under better control.

Accidental magic that powerful could be deadly.

Severus had just removed his teaching robes and fixed himself a spot of tea when an owl flew in the owl hole.

At first glance, he assumed that it was a reply from Lucius but then he realized that it was a different owl.

It dropped a package in front of him and flew back out the way it came in.

Severus frowned. There was a Gringott's seal on it.

He had not been expecting anything from them.

The potions master opened the package and frowned even deeper. In it was two letters and another package.

He opened the top most letter - the one with the Gringott's seal on it first.

_Mister Snape_

_Per accordance to one of our clients' wills instructions', I am sending these items to you. The will was activated in June of 1993 but we were unable to locate it until February of 1994. It then took a few days to process the instructions._

_We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused. If you have any questions, you may contact me personally._

_Gralkin, Overseer of Will Processing_

Severus was perplexed. He then looked closer at the second envelope.

And froze.

He would recognize that handwriting anywhere. Even though there was no need, he still pointed his wand at the letter and muttered, "_Scripto Manifesto_". The name Lily Potter appeared in ghostly letters above the envelope.

His breathing increased. He carefully set the letter aside and looked at the package but nothing he did to it would open it.

"_Manifesto Veneficium_." The spell told him that it was one of Lily's own locking charms, one that he had never managed to break. He couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped him.

Setting the package aside, Severus got up and began pacing the room. What on earth had Lily sent him so long after she had died?

He got a foreboding sense in the pit of his stomach.

There were very few things that shook Severus up anymore. He would not let a letter do so.

Even if it was from Lily.

He took a deep breath and headed towards the table where he had left the letter and the package.

He then carefully opened up the sealed envelope.

* * *

A/N: Aren't I just an evil person for leaving off here? I think I am. But then again, I'm allowed to be evil. *grins* *scampers off to hide from all the objects being thrown at me* I'll have the next chapter up in a day or two. ;-)


	51. Lily's Letter

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 51

* * *

_My dearest Sev,_

_I write this letter and cast these spells as a precaution to ensure that you are not kept from what is rightfully yours any longer than you already have been. If you are reading this then it's just as well that I did because that means that James and I have died yet Harry has managed to survive._

_It's the day after we went under the Fidelius Charm. James done something without my approval nor my knowledge beforehand and it's giving me one of my feelings. One of my bad feelings. The nature of the charm prevents me from telling you what was done but suffice to say it is not what was planned. I do not believe that I will live to see the end of this war._

_I have several things that I need to tell you, thus the purpose of this letter. The first being that you know that I do still love you and it's that love which has kept me from sharing this with you before now._

_After the war is over, I have every intention on sharing this information with you. If you are reading this then I never got the chance._

_Where to begin ..._

_I'm sure that you remember the night we made love before I was married. The aftermath of that night brought forth a joyous event._

_Our love brought forth a child, a son. Our son._

_Harry is your son._

_All during my pregnancy I fretted because I knew that there was more of a chance that the baby was yours and not James'. I needed to find a way to hide this from you and from him._

_I had to hide it from James because it would devastate him - both to know that I was unfaithful and to find out that the child he was so excited over was not his - but his childhood enemies'._

_I had to hide the truth from you to protect you. You play a dangerous role in this war and I did not want to add to your stress. I know that you are a master occlumens and that it would take something extraordinary to break down your shields but I also know that Voldemort is a monster. If he suspected you were hiding something of this magnitude and you didn't offer it up - well I couldn't take the chance that he would kill you._

_So I searched for a charm or a potion and found a potion in Sambardia's Ancient Works, his 1893 edition. The text was not easy to get a hold of so my copy and my own notes are some of the things in the package that came with this letter._

_The potion would only change Harry's features - no other genes would be affected and it was safe to give after the baby was born. In a normal paternity test, it would also show James as the father. It could even be reversed later if the need arises. I followed the recipe exactly except for the Vipersblade. I could not locate any fresh leaves. The ones I used were about 3 months old. I calculated that if there was any effect to be had because of this, that it would show up around Harry's 14__th__ birthday._

_So I brewed the potion and waited. When Harry was born, I only had to glance at him to know that he was your son. He was beautiful Sev. I took a couple of pictures before I gave him the potion._

_It was one of the hardest things that I ever had to do but it needed to be done._

_The other item in the package is a photo album. I made it specifically for you. It has pictures of all of Harry's milestones that you would have wanted to see in person along with a few extras. I deserve to be tortured for eternity for keeping this from you and I deserve to have you hate me with every ounce of your being for depriving you of your own flesh and blood. _

_I remember the talks that we had many times about children while we were growing up. Put aside your fears, my darling, and become the father that I've always said you could become._

_Harry has most likely grown up with Sirius and I'm afraid that he might have installed some of his prejudices against you - or Slytherins' in general so you'll most likely have that working against you. I still encourage you to try. If need be, show Sirius parts of this letter and if he still doesn't believe you, there is a special paternity test in Sambardia's book that will override the potion and show the truth._

_Actually, I'm starting to think that I should write a separate letter for you to give to Sirius when the time comes for you to tell Harry that you're his father. If I do, then I will place it in the back of the photo album._

_No one knows about this but I believe that Albus and Remus suspect to some degree. Albus because he has seen us together and because he's a wise old coot. I've seen Remus giving me some knowing looks. I think the wolf in him can smell that Harry is not James' son but he's not cornered me about it yet._

_Now, I've put a spell on our will. You should have received this letter under one of two conditions. You saw something in Harry that made you question his paternity and perform a paternity test or it is Harry's 14__th__ birthday. (I made a spell specifically for that.)_

_I wanted to have this delivered to you upon my death but I do not know how long the war will continue. My next thought was Harry's 10__th__ birthday, when he would be old enough to understand and you would have a year together before he started Hogwarts, yet I gave pause because that would mean that you would have to juggle time between teaching (because my gut says that you will still be a teacher) and getting to know your son. My third choice was Harry's 14__th__ birthday. While I really don't anticipate his appearance changing any, I thought it best to warn you before you see him and see something that shocks you._

_I also thought you should know that I am also writing a letter to Harry. When he turns 17, he will be granted full access to the Potter vault. He will find the letter then. In it I will explain how you are his biological father and not James, though I am leaving instructions that if he asks for that letter specifically before then, then the goblins are to give it to him._

_I beg you to tell him before then, to get to know him as he grows older._

_Again, I beg you to be the father that I know you can be to your son - to our son._

_I love you very much Sev. I will watch over you and Harry long after I am gone._

_Please do not mourn me. Celebrate me and my life and our union together. Remember that I still live on through our son._

_I wish you love and happiness for the rest of your life - just as I always have._

_I love you my dark knight._

_Love,_

_Lily_

Severus was hyperventilating. He had actually gripped the chairs arm so hard that he was sitting in, it splintered.

Lily said Harry belonged to him. Harry was not James' son but his.

"Oh God," he choked out. He put the letter on the table and, exhibiting none of the grace that he normally carried, ran to the bathroom.

There he threw up.

Severus didn't know how long he sat there but eventually he got up and splashed some cold water on his face. He slowly walked back to the library and eyed the letter and package sitting harmlessly on the table. He then let his eyes wander over to the clock.

He blinked in disbelief. It was a little after midnight. He had spent over 5 hours sitting in the bathroom floor yet he couldn't remember single thing that had passed through his mind.

Taking a deep breath, Severus crossed over to the chair again and re-read the letter.

Harry was his son. His and Lily's.

How could he have _ever_ hated Lily's son? How ... how could he have hated his own flesh and blood?

"What a great start," he muttered.

After he was sure that he had his nerves under control, he carefully picked up the package (which opened now) and pulled out a photo album and Sambardia's book.

He set the book to the side for the moment and opened the photo album.

The very first picture showed Harry just born with all of Severus' features. Lily had been right. The baby was beautiful and there was no denying who he belonged to.

There were pictures of Harry crawling, laughing, some of his first steps, and sleeping - each with their own caption and mini-story.

Severus found himself growing angry at being kept from this but not at Lily. He was angry at Voldemort and he was angry at himself. Why had he never questioned her back then? Would she have told him if he had?

Severus turned the page and stared at the next picture then burst out laughing. It was a picture of Harry summoning his bottle from the next room and Lupin happened to be in it's path. The bottle smacked him in the back of the head. Baby Harry was also amused it seemed. The caption made Severus feel proud.

'_Harry started summoning things when he was 5 months old. Our son is __very__ strong magically. I get the feeling that I'm going to have my hands full.'_

The next picture confused him because Harry wasn't in it at all. It was a picture of Black scowling. He was silver and gold and had very bright neon green hair.

'_Another example of how strong our son is. Harry got a hold of James' wand and pointed it at Sirius. It took Sirius three days to figure out a counter.'_

Severus continued looking through the album and the last picture nearly broke him. Harry was 15 months old and dressed up in a dog costume. He was trying to make the candy come to him and James dove across the floor to catch it, which made Harry cry until Lily walked into frame, took it from James, and gave it to Harry.

'_Halloween. We couldn't go out but we wanted to dress him up anyway. Harry loves the fizzing whizbee's the most.'_

That was the last night Lily was alive. The letter and spell already cast, she must have secured each to be sent to Gringott's upon her death.

Severus did not sleep that night. He stayed up remembering Lily and staring at pictures of his son.

His son. Harry Potter was his son.

"Merlin help me," he muttered.

* * *

A/N: Ok. I decided to put you all out of your misery ... somewhat. This chapter and the previous chapter used to be all one but a reviewer told me that he/she wanted some cliff hangers, so as I proof read, I found a place to put a cliff hanger. Anyway. That's why this chapter was so short and why the last chapter was so short.

I hope you all liked this chapter. I've read and re-read and even handed it over to my brother (who also reads my writing) to read. He liked it.

The next chapter should be ready to be posted in a day or so. It depends on how much further into typing what I have hand written so far I can get.


	52. Thoughts, Quidditch, & Inquisitive Coots

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 52

* * *

Come breakfast time Severus was strangely wide awake.

A bit on edge and in shock and still some what in denial, but wide awake.

He had spent all night staring at the photo album and replaying each interaction over in his head that he had ever had with the boy - with his son.

The words that seemed to hurt the worst was what Harry had said to Severus last month.

'_And you appear to hate me because I look like my dad and no other reason. You don't seem to realize that I'm my own person, that my name is Harry and __not__ James.'_

And he was right.

Severus despised the boy simply because he looked like James. But looks are the only thing that Harry could claim of James because he was _not_ James' son.

All of his previous reactions to Harry getting hurt made sense now - now that he knew the boy was his son.

And he knew what Albus had used the Sodalite for. Severus smirked to himself. For once, he definitively knew something the Headmaster didn't because a regular paternity test would show James as Harry's father. Lily had planned well.

Severus was on his 3rd cup of coffee when Lupin came in. He narrowed his eyes at the man. Lily had said that she only _suspected_ that he knew.

He contemplated on cornering him but decided to wait and watch instead.

Severus let his mind wander back to the letter. Lily had said that they had changed something with the Fidelius Charm but Severus couldn't fathom what it had been. There had indeed been a letter to Black in the back of the photo album. He had tried opening it but he couldn't. There had been a recipient only charm placed on it.

He had thought about burning it but put it away instead.

By his 5th cup of coffee (which most of the staff had noticed and were already making plans to avoid his path today) Harry had came in the Great Hall, rubbing his messy hair and talking to Weasley and Longbottom. Granger, Severus noted, was already seated at the Gryffindor table surrounded by books.

Severus couldn't help but stare. That was his son, his and Lily's son. After a moment had passed, he blanked his face and resumed eating. He couldn't afford to act any differently. There were way too many perceptive people around, the most being seated immediately to his left.

* * *

"Harry, can you stay after for a minute?"

Harry nodded to Professor Lupin, then turned to Ron, "Wait for me?"

The red head nodded and went and stood in the hallway.

After the classroom cleared, Lupin reached into his desk drawer and pulled out the book Severus had delivered to him the prior evening and handed it over. "When you get a chance, read this and tell me what you think."

Harry looked at the book with a confused expression. "A book on meditation sir?"

Remus nodded. "It will help you control those boughts of accidental magic that you have if you learn the proper relaxation techniques, plus when you cast powerful spells, you won't feel as drained."

Harry nodded. "Thank you sir. I'll read it when I get a chance." He put the book in his book bag.

"You better hurry along so you're not late for your next class."

Harry nodded and left for astronomy with Ron. He wondered when on earth he was going to have the time to read the book on meditation between his homework and his Quidditch practices, which Oliver had scheduled six days a week again.

* * *

Severus was sitting in his quarters pouring over Sambardia's book. It was an interesting read and Lily's notes made a good accompaniment to it. It was easy to see that the woman had been an excellent potions' mistress.

He thought back to Harry during class that past week. He had finally solved one of his riddles concerning the boy.

He watched Potter brew a perfect calming draught and then watched as he sabotaged it himself.

"Disgraceful Potter. Even Longbottoms' is better than yours. A foot long essay on what you did wrong due by next class."

Severus sighed. He had a part to play, especially in front of his Slytherins. He so desperately wanted to see what the boy was truly capable of with the blood of two potion masters running through his veins.

He had even contemplated on talking to Harry after class - telling the boy that he was on to him hiding his knowledge and that it would no longer be tolerated but he couldn't. He couldn't start giving him good grades.

That would cause problems, especially since he was supposed to hate him.

Sighing again, he returned to the book.

* * *

_February 23, 1994_

_Snape is acting weird. I've seen him staring at me a lot these past two weeks when he thinks that I'm not looking. It's making me paranoid because I've honestly not done anything wrong this time. He was already acting weird towards me from where I pointed out that I'm not my father but now he's even weirder._

_Oliver has become fanatic towards this Quidditch game. When I'm not eating or studying, it seems that I'm practicing._

_And he's not the only one. Even McGonagall has cut back on homework so we would have more time to practice, not that Snape has of course. My homework for him seems to have doubled._

_Hermione and Ron still aren't talking to each other, at least not very much._

_It's almost time for practice._

_Harry_

Harry stowed his journal away in his trunk, grabbed his quidditch gear, and headed out towards the pitch.

* * *

Severus was pacing his quarters, a habit he seemed to be doing a lot lately. He had just finished brewing the paternity potion that was in the book Lily had given him and had performed the test a few minutes prior. (Managing to get a hold of Potter's blood had not been easy, but he had done it.)

It was one thing to be told that you have a son. It was another thing all together to actually see proof of it.

All kinds of thoughts came out of no where about whether or not he could be Harry's father - whether he _should_ be Harry's father.

This being, of course, if Potter even accepted him.

That would mean that Severus would have to tell him first.

"Better not do that until I know what I'm doing," he muttered to himself.

He saw all forms of rejection coming at him and shoved the notion of telling the boy to the back of his mind.

Severus felt nauseous again. He strode to the cabinet where he kept his potion stores and grabbed the one for nausea.

He needed to keep his mind active or he was going to drive himself crazy. His nerves were already frayed. After downing the potion, he strode off to his lab to brew potions for Poppy.

* * *

The excitement of the day was palpable on the Quidditch Pitch.

Harry was currently circling the Pitch searching for the snitch while keeping an eye on Cho Chang - in case she spotted it before he did (at least that's what he kept telling himself).

"Gryffindor - Seventy. Ravenclaw - Ten!" Harry heard Lee Jordan announce.

He realized eventually that Cho had decided to mark him instead of searching for the snitch herself.

Harry grinned to himself then went into a dive suddenly as if he had seen the snitch. She followed. However, as he pulled out of the dive, he actually saw that snitch at the other end of the field. He pressed himself tighter against the broom.

Several feet below him Cho had done the same thing.

In the background Harry heard Lee Jordan announce that Gryffindor had scored again.

"Ah!" Harry heard Cho scream from below him.

Harry looked up and saw Dementors at the end of the field. He pulled out his wand, yelled "_Expecto Patronum_", and saw something shoot at the dementors.

He then refocused on the snitch.

As he closed his hand around it, he heard the crowd erupt excitedly. He then found himself being hugged by 6 other red blurs.

* * *

Harry had shot a patronus at who appeared to be Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint. It wasn't fully formed but it definitely had a shape of some sort.

"Albus?" Remus asked with a slight question in his voice. He still wasn't sure what he had seen and wanted conformation.

The Headmaster shook himself out of his own stupor. "Excuse me. I appear to have some students to yell at." He then sauntered over to where Minerva was already yelling at the 4 Slytherin's dressed as Dementors.

Lupin then headed down to the field himself.

Severus watched as Lupin pulled Harry from the crowd and showed him what he had sent his half formed Patronus at.

After a few minutes Severus headed towards his quarters and downed a couple glasses of fire whiskey.

He knew that Lupin had been giving the boy patronus lessons but had assumed that the spell would be too advanced for his age. He figured Lupin spent that time regaling Potter of his school years.

Clearly not.

* * *

Harry felt as if he had just fallen asleep when he heard, "Aaargghhhh Noo!" At first he thought that he had screamed himself but realized that the silencing charm was on himself.

He quickly removed it and almost killed himself getting Ron's bed where the sound had actually came from.

"Ron. What is it?"

"Sirius Knife! A Black! Standing over me!"

"What?" yelled Harry confused.

"Sirius Black was standing over me with a knife!" he said more clearly.

Harry rushed to the door, opened it, knocked Percy aside (who had come to see who screamed) and raced down the steps.

If it was Black, he was long gone.

People were going down the steps thinking the party was continuing that McGonagall had just broken up two hours prior.

McGonagall eventually came back in to yell at everyone again. After she got the story of Sirius Black standing over Ron with a knife, the entire room listened as Sir Cadogan explained that he did indeed let a man in because he _did_ have the password.

"He had the whole weeks worth. Read them off a piece of paper."

When McGonagall came back in, Harry thought that she was going to kill Neville.

As the castle was being searched again, Harry commandeered a corner by himself. He noticed that Ron was reveling in the moment. Hermione came over and sat by him.

"He was less than 5 feet away Hermione. Why didn't he just silence Ron when he got the wrong bed?"

Hermione shrugged.

"He was so close ..." Harry mumbled to himself.

"I'm glad that you're both alright," Hermione said quietly to Harry before going up the stairs back to her dorm room.

* * *

"How is he getting in?"

"I assure you that I don't know Severus. I'm fairly curious as to why he didn't just quickly kill Harry even if he was a bed away. The killing curse could have easily been cast in that short of a distance. Five sleeping teenage boys would have been no match for him, even if one _had_ woken up."

Severus never even stopped pacing. "Who knows how he thinks by now. Azkaban has clearly unhinged him even more than he already was. What does Lupin have to say in the matter? I didn't see him searching last night."

"He was looking just as long as we were, just a different part of the castle. I do not believe that he is helping Sirius gain entrance."

"We need to increase security around Potter even more. Maybe add a second person to supervise his Quidditch practices or not even let him play. Who knows what spells could go flying through the air. We've been slacking on keeping an eye on him. We could start that back up again."

Albus watched as Severus continued pacing while making suggestions as to how to keep Harry safe. The man almost seemed frantic. It was baffling. He knew that Severus vowed to keep Harry safe but this ... this seemed different.

Eventually he got up and stood in front of Severus causing the man to stop and look up.

"Severus, what's wrong?"

Albus watched as Severus carefully blanked his face. "Nothing. What makes you think there is anything wrong?"

"Because I know you. _This_ much concern for Harry is new."

"I've always been concerned about Lily's son," hedged Severus.

"Not this deeply." Albus looked Severus in the eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked again.

"You already know what's wrong," snarled the potions master, seemingly out of nowhere.

"I assure you that I do not," replied Albus calmly. "Why this new found concern?"

"Dammit Albus. It's because he's my son."

* * *

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Prisoner of Azkaban book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: I hope everyone had a good holiday! I had intentions on posting this on the 20th but we lost power (and heat) on the 19th and it didn't come back until the 23rd ... after that it was more dealing w/ the aftermath of no power and getting ready for Christmas. After Christmas, I lost my internet for a couple of days ... but now it's back! The goal for the next chapter to be posted is late Tuesday / early Wednesday.

And as for the random cliff hangers. I had a couple of messages and reviews telling me that I should put more of them in ... so I did. *grins innocently*


	53. March to June, 1994

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

A/N: This is a long chapter. I had it originally divided up into two but I figured it's been a while since I've given everyone a long one, I just combined them.

* * *

Chapter 53

* * *

"Dammit Albus. It's because he's my son."

Everyone in the Headmaster's office - portrait, Fawkes, and the Headmaster himself - just stared at Severus as if he had grown a second head.

The silence was overwhelming so Severus continued snarling, "But you already knew that didn't you - or you at least suspected it. Enlighten me. Were you _ever_ going to tell me?"

The Headmaster cleared his throat. "Severus, Harry is not your son. I would not have kept that from you." He turned to look out the window briefly before looking back at the man he had long considered his own son. "I, however, will not deny that I've long suspected as much but I checked myself."

Severus snorted. "You didn't give Lily very much credit." He then sighed and took a seat across from Albus' desk.

He watched as the Headmaster sat himself in the chair next to his instead of his customary seat behind the desk.

Severus then explained about the letter that he had received and the paternity test he had performed. "I've spent the past 3 years despising my own flesh and blood Albus. I'm certainly off to a great start."

"Severus you didn't know. Lily certainly hid it well. However you are correct in that you'll have to watch yourself. There are still many of Voldemort's spies around. Why didn't you come to me when you learned of this?"

"I needed time to think - time to sort through things, which I've still not done."

Severus leaned forward and rubbed his temples, lost in thought. He barely registered Albus leave the room temporarily.

"Take this Severus. You deserve to have it more than I do," he said upon re-entry to his office.

Severus looked up and saw Albus holding a picture. "What's this?" He looked at it then looked back to Albus in shock. "When did you take this?"

"I'm sure you remember the day."

Severus stared at the picture. "I do but I don't remember this being taken."

Albus smiled. "Neither of you noticed."

They talked for a couple more hours before Severus returned to his own quarters.

After he had left, Albus put his head in hands. There was no way that he could tell Severus what he suspected now.

It pained himself to even think of it. He knew that it would kill Severus. He needed another option. He would _find_ another option.

Unfortunately, he couldn't research anything until this summer when he was free to travel. Sighing, he picked up his mail to finish going through it - anything for a distraction.

* * *

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were being scolded by Hagrid for ignoring Hermione. The gate keeper had invited them down to his cabin under the pre-tenses of tea.

Feeling horrible, they set off to look for her to apologize because they both realized that he was right.

When they entered the castle they saw that another Hogsmeade weekend would be in two weeks. Lupins speech still haunted his memory so Harry begged off when Ron suggested he sneak down to the village.

They eventually located Hermione in the common room surrounded by about 15 books. Fifteen thick books.

"We're sorry that we've been so rude to you Hermione," said Harry as he sat down across from her.

"Yeah," echoed Ron.

Hermione looked up. "Oh Ron. I'm sorry Crookshanks ate Scabbers."

"It's alright. Maybe mom will get me an owl now," he said hopefully.

Harry was glad that everything seemed alright between them. He hoped that it would last.

Their fighting made him feel like he was in a tug of war between them.

The next weekend Hedwig brought Harry a letter from Hagrid.

"Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed," Harry said with alarm.

Ron frowned. Hermione looked really upset.

"Doesn't he get an appeal?" asked Ron.

Hermione nodded.

"He'll win the appeal and this time you won't have to do the research alone Hermione."

Hermione then launched herself at Ron who nearly fell out of his chair.

Harry just snickered at his friends shocked expression.

* * *

It was currently the middle of March. Albus was in his office holding two letters. One was from the Board of Governors, the other from the Minister of Magic.

Their contents made him want to smile and grimace at the same time. He could only imagine the headache that this was going to cause.

Sighing, he picked up his new quill (it had a purple spine and the feathers on it had green polka dots) and began to write out a reply. While he couldn't stop what was going to happen next year, he could do his best to ensure that no deaths occurred.

* * *

The security measures around the castle had increased 10 fold since the last break in. Harry, Ron, and Hermione couldn't go visit Hagrid in the evening like they used to because of this so that left them discussing things in their Care of Magical Creature's class.

"We'll figure out a way to save Buckbeak Hagrid."

Hagrid just sniffled as a response.

After Hagrid dropped the class off at the castle, the Gryffindor's headed towards the Charm's classroom.

"Have you ever seen anything so pathetic?" asked Malfoy to Crabbe and Goyle. "And he's supposed to be our teacher!"

Harry and Ron both moved towards Malfoy but Hermione got there first.

SMACK!

Everyone looked at Hermione in shock. "Don't _ever_ call Hagrid pathetic." Before Harry and Ron could stop her she had her wand drawn.

Finally Ron spoke up, although reluctantly. "Hermione. Don't. He's not worth it."

Malfoy took that chance and ran away with Crabbe and Goyle following behind him.

'And I thought _I_ had a temper,' Harry mused to himself. "Let's go. We're going to be late for class," pointed out Harry while trying not to laugh.

That charms lesson was difficult for Harry. First, for some unholy reason, he couldn't cast the cheering charm correctly and Ron had just merely looked at him apathetically. Then Ron tried and it sent Harry into a fit of giggles.

But the strange thing was that Hermione never showed up throughout the entire class even though she had been right behind them as they entered the class room.

* * *

"No Neville. Not yet," whispered Harry.

Neville froze as he was about to add the morning glory pulp to his restorative draught.

"Potter! No talking! Detention tonight."

Unfortunately when Snape had yelled, it startled Neville - who dropped the pulp into his potion - bowl and all.

Several of the Slytherins laughed out loud.

"Clean it up Longbottom," said Snape with a sneer. He sounded exasperated.

After Harry had made sure his potion was stabilized, he helped Neville clean up his work station.

After class, Harry was told by Snape that he would be helping Filch clean the castle.

Neville was waiting for him in the hallway. "Sorry Harry."

"It's alright," Harry said.

"No it's not. I'm lousy at potions. You were just trying to help."

Harry suddenly got an idea. "Tell you what. If you want, you can help me study for our Herbology test next week and I'll help you with the potions exam we have coming up."

Neville smiled. "All right. Let's go eat. I'm starved."

Harry nodded. He was too. The two boys headed off to find Ron and Hermione to go to dinner.

* * *

It was currently the middle of April. Thankfully it was a dry day since Harry kept hitting the ground - a lot.

"Good job Potter! Push yourself against your broom to go faster! Push! Push!"

Harry followed Wood's instructions and pulled himself in tighter to his broomstick.

"Now execute Rollins Turn!"

Harry grimaced. He had yet to do this move right without falling from his broom - which was why he was only flying about 3 feet above the ground at the moment.

Twisting his ankle around the broom in an attempt to anchor himself to it, he swung his body to make himself go into a spiral straight towards the fake snitch at the end of the field. (The move was supposed to speed him up in the air.)

He got 3 full rotations in before he lost his grip on the broom and went crashing to the ground.

"Oomph!"

"You alright Potter?"

"Yeah!" Despite the fact that this was the 6th time he had crashed into the ground, he laughed. It was a fun move to try to do, even if it did make him dizzy.

"Keep practicing Potter. I need to go rescue Katie from the twins."

Harry looked up and watched as Fred and George were playing with a Bludger around Katie. She looked like she was about to hex someone.

He went over and picked up his broom and as he went to mount it, he felt a presence nearby, like someone was watching him.

Madam Hooch was in the stands. She was watching the players in the air, so it wasn't her. He let his eyes wander over to the gateway to get into the Pitch.

It was there that he felt that the sensation was coming from but he didn't feel any threatening vibes. He let his eyes linger in that spot a second longer before he mounted his broom and took off again.

* * *

Severus merely shook his head. He was using an invisibility potion instead of the charm and Potter still seemed to sense his presence.

He idly wondered if it was just him Potter could sense - maybe because of familial magic? - or if he could sense anyone invisible.

Severus grimaced as Potter crashed into the ground again. At least the boy had the sense to only practice that move while just a couple of feet above the ground.

From where he stood, he could see the light in Potters eyes at the joy of flying. It was clearly something he loved to do.

* * *

_May 19, 1994_

_Hermione has lost it. First she punches Malfoy, which was bloody brilliant, then she misses Charms. And to top it off she walked out of Divination today._

_I still haven't figured out how she keeps disappearing and reappearing out of thin air but she looks like she's about to have a nervous breakdown._

_At least her and Ron aren't fighting anymore._

_The Gryffindor / Slytherin match is June 4__th__. Oliver is obsessed and he's not the only one. I have to catch the snitch only if Gryffindor is 60 points ahead of Slytherin._

_I'm feeling the pressure from everyone._

_-Harry_

* * *

"Here's your book back professor."

Remus took Severus' meditation book back. "Did you have any questions?"

"No sir. I did have some trouble clearing my mind the way the book described so I'm going to see if I can find a beginners book on meditation in the library. Do you think Madam Pince will let me check one out over the summer?"

Remus nodded. "She will. She'll have you fill out some extra papers though."

"Let me guess. Something about being tortured for eternity if I return the book with a crinkle in the page?"

Remus chuckled. "Something like that. Since exams are coming up, I figured that you would want more time to study so I was going to stop the patronus lessons."

"But sir, I still can't make mine chase the dementors down like you can. I still don't know how I sent that one at Malfoy and his goons."

"You can make a shield constantly which will allow you to escape - a solid shield at that. It's very impressive Harry."

"But when will I be able to cast one like yours?"

Remus smiled. "I imagine soon. Let your magic grow some more. The possibility is obviously there as well as the talent. Just keep practicing in your free time."

"Yes sir," Harry said slightly disappointed.

"And if you ever want to know anything else about your parents all you have to do is ask."

Harry perked up some. "All right professor. I need to go. I have an extra potions essay to write tonight."

* * *

"Some father you are!"

"Where were you when I needed you the most?"

"Why do you hate me? What did I do that was so wrong?"

Severus sat up sweating in his bed. He had came to the decision that he would tell Harry the truth at the end of the year last night before he went to bed.

He had previously decided that he wasn't going to tell him yet but then he re-read Lily's letter (even though he had it committed to memory). Lily wanted him to, so he would.

But now, after having that dream, he wanted to wait. He _needed_ to wait.

It had to be a sign that he wasn't ready yet - not that it would have taken much for him to back out of telling the boy.

Severus knew that he wouldn't be able to get any more sleep so after a shower, he headed towards his office to work on some grading.

* * *

"We can do this team. We just need to have confidence. We are faster and better and smarter than Slytherin. We are all to go to bed early tonight. We need to be well rested for tomorrow."

Harry cheered along with the rest of his teammates.

After they changed, they headed back up to Gryffindor Tower in high spirits.

* * *

Severus eyed Minerva. They had encountered each other in the staff lounge. "That Quidditch Cup is staying in my office - where it belongs."

"Ha! We have your number this year Severus."

"We'll see," he said.

The Quidditch match the next day would definitely be interesting.

* * *

Severus watched as the players took flight and the game began. Malfoy and Potter both circled over head searching for the snitch.

He eyed the parent's stands. Lucius was not in attendance today due to a prior engagement.

He saw Albus looking at him more than once - no doubt wondering who he was cheering for. The answer would probably surprise him. He was silently cheering for his son while outwardly cheering for Slytherin.

Albus caught Severus' gaze. 'Then again, maybe not,' he thought. He simply sneered at the Headmaster then refocused on the game.

When the score was 30-0 Gryffindor, Severus saw Potter go into a dive as if he had seen the snitch and Malfoy followed. He then groaned as Potter pulled a defensive move that made the two beaters and Malfoy crash into each other.

After that, the game turned dirty.

About 40 minutes into the game, Severus did something that made his colleagues look at him with concern. He had let out a bark of laughter when Malfoy grabbed the tail of Potters broom to keep him from the snitch.

Albus had merely rolled his eyes at the outburst.

It was perhaps an hour and a half later that Severus stood with the rest of the staff and watched with anticipation as Malfoy dived for the snitch - followed by Potter. It was on the opposite edge of the field and Draco was closer.

Severus felt his heart clench when he saw Potter go into Rollins Turn to speed himself up. As far as he knew, Potter had yet to master the hard move and he was a helluva lot higher than 3 feet above the ground. After 4 rotations Potter had inched in front of Malfoy and straightened himself out. Perhaps 5 seconds later, he closed his hand around the snitch.

Gryffindor had won the match with enough points to win the Quidditch Cup.

From where Severus stood, he could see the excitement in the boys eyes. Actually he suspected that it could be seen by everyone there.

He watched as the Headmaster handed Wood the cup, who in turn passed it to Potter. The boy lifted it over his head in the sea of Gryffindors.

Severus heard a cough beside of him. He pointedly ignored it. The cough happened again. He sighed, pulled out a bag of money, and handed it over to the very smug head of Gryffindor.

* * *

As Harry was leaving the Gryffindor locker rooms, he saw Malfoy leaving the Slytherin locker room across the way. He was alone.

Harry told his teammates to go on, that he'd catch up. He then wandered over to Malfoy.

"Come to gloat Potter?"

"No." Harry looked around. There seemed to be no Slytherins waiting on him. "You know, friends won't disown you over missing a snitch, at least mine didn't."

Draco sneered. "I don't need advice from someone like you."

Harry shrugged. "You do know that you almost had it right?"

"What are you on about?"

"The snitch. You almost had it. I've never been able to control more than 5 rolls of Rollins Turn. I took a chance on you being shocked at seeing me do it and slowing down some - long enough for me to stabilize myself in the air."

Harry saw that the blonde was surprised.

"I've got a party to go to. Don't let your house mates keep you down."

As Harry walked away, he heard Draco say, "I've been out Slytherin'd by a Gryffindor."

Harry just grinned.

* * *

Eventually exam week rolled around. Harry was nervous but Hermione looked like she was seriously about to have a nervous breakdown.

For the most part, he and Ron had tried not to say anything around her for fear of being snapped at but when they saw the exam schedule she made for herself, they couldn't resist.

"Uh, Hermione?" said Harry cautiously.

She looked up from searching for a book. "What?"

"I think you have your schedule wrote down wrong."

Hermione picked up the piece of paper that Harry had pointed to. "No I don't."

"But Hermione, how are you going to take two exams at once?"

"Don't be ridiculous Ronald. I'm not going to take two exams at once. Help me find my Arithmancy books."

Harry and Ron simply shrugged at each other and helped her hunt for the book she wanted.

* * *

Harry's first final was Transfiguration. He spent the first half of Monday morning answering questions and writing an essay. When he turned it in, he was led off to a side room where he was then told to turn a teapot into a tortoise. After he was done, he frowned at the tortoise. It had steam coming out from under it's shell.

After lunch, Harry headed to his charm's final. It didn't take him long to do the essay portion. He smiled as he thought of his mother when he handed it in and how she was a natural at the subject according to Professor Lupin.

"Alright Mr. Potter. I want you to perform a cheering charm on Miss Halligan here." Flitwick pointed to someone that Harry vaguely recalled being a 6th year Hufflepuff.

Harry took a deep breath and performed the charm. He was pleased that he finally got it right. He had practiced for 3 hours the night before on Ron - much to his dorm mates amusement.

After dinner, he went to study for his History of Magic and Ancient Runes exam. Neither of these would have practical portions.

By Tuesday night he was ready to collapse. The history of magic exam had been brutal. His Ancient Rune exam hadn't been so bad. It had been on the Eldar Futhark Runestones and the Marcomannic Runes. He had breezed through it.

The Astronomy exam was done in the special room in which a spell had been cast on the ceiling to mimic the night time sky. That exam included drawing a nasty diagram. It took Harry almost all 3 hours to finish. Wednesday afternoons exam was for the Care of Magical Creature's class. They had to keep a flobberworm alive for an hour. It was the easiest exam ever. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the time talking to Hagrid about Buckbeak.

Thursday morning found Harry trying to plant a Puffapod and pruning a centibush (which tried to strangle him at one point) after his written Herbology exam. The afternoon's written potions exam was fairly easy. For the practical portion he had to brew a confusing concoction. There were two ways to brew it correctly. A fast way and a slow way. The fast way required exact timing of the ingredients to be added and would, oddly enough, make it more powerful than the slow way. They had only brewed the slow way in class but Harry wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing. He finished long before any of the other 3rd year Gryffindor and Slytherin students.

As Harry was leaving he would have bet his Firebolt that he had seen approval in Snapes eyes. It gave him a weird feeling.

When Ron and Hermione found him in the tower, he was beating his head on the desk. His brain hurt. He idly wondered if the Giant Squid would like some company in the Black Lake.

His defense exam on Friday morning was an obstacle course that Professor Lupin had set up. After he came out of the trunk (it was enlarged) where the boggart was, Lupin said, "Well done Harry! Full marks!"

Harry grinned.

On their way back up the castle (Ron was laughing at Hermione's boggart of McGonagall telling her that she had failed everything), they ran into Minister Fudge.

"Harry!" he exclaimed.

Harry smiled tentatively. "Hello Minister."

"Just come from an exam?"

Harry nodded.

"I'm afraid that I'm here for some unpleasant business. There is going to be a mad hippogriff executed tonight and since I needed to check in on the Black situation, I was asked to step in to over see it."

"Has the appeal already happened?" asked Ron alarmed.

The minister looked at Ron strangely. "No, no. It's scheduled for this afternoon. Well, we had best get on. Have a good day Harry."

Harry watched with horror as an axe glistened in the sunlight on the belt of one of the committee members.

"Come on. Let's get some lunch before divination," said Ron sullenly.

The Divination exam involved crystal ball gazing. It seemed that Professor Trelawney was seeing each of them separately.

It was finally Harry's turn. He saw squat in the crystal ball so he made believe that he saw Buckbeak getting off free of the charges. Just as he was about to leave, Professor Trelawney's voice changed and her eyes glazed over.

"It will happen tonight. The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will set out ... to rejoin ... his master ..."

Harry watched as Trelawney's head fell forward. When she looked up, her eyes were clear. "Is something wrong?"

"You ... you just said that the Dark Lord was going to rise again."

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Not even _I_ would be so presumptions to predict something like _that_. I think that _you_ must have dozed off."

Harry slowly backed away and all but ran from the tower.

When he arrived back at the dorm, Ron had a letter from Hagrid. Buckbeak had lost his appeal and would be executed at sundown.

* * *

A/N: Told you it was a long one. :p I don't remember how long the next one is off the top of my head. As you saw, there was a massive shift in the time line too but I'm so excited to head on to book 4! Of course, we need to finish book 3 first. *eyes the stack of papers next to her desk* Hmm.. I don't actually remember how many more chapters are left in book 3. Oh well, we'll find out soon enough! I look to have the next chapter up by Friday or Saturday, depending on how well some of my editing goes and how much more I can get typed.

A/N: This story will stick mostly to canon of the Prisoner of Azkaban book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!)

A/N: Some of what's written in the Prisoner of Azkaban will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)


	54. Sneaking Around

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

A/N: This one is a really short chapter, but I promise the next one makes up for it! So no mobbing the author! *hides*

* * *

Chapter 54

* * *

"We can't let Hagrid go through this alone," said Harry as he looked out of a window in the Gryffindor common room.

"We don't have your cloak anymore," Ron said as he looked up from his magazine, "and no teacher is going to let us out after dark - especially you."

"Where is it?" asked Hermione.

"It's in the one eyed witch statue," replied Harry.

"How do you open it?"

"Tap it once and say 'Dissendium'," said Harry suspiciously.

To his and Ron's shock she bounced out of the room. "Did she just go and get it?"

Ron was looking at the closed portrait. "First she punches Malfoy then she storms out of divination. What's become of her?" he asked with slight awe in his voice.

Harry just chuckled.

* * *

After dinner, Remus returned to his office. He had seen how fidgety Harry, Hermione, and Ron had been during the meal.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Remus spread the map out and found the trio in a side classroom. He watched them slowly move down to Hagrids hut.

"They must be under James cloak," Remus mused to the empty room.

He wasn't watching too carefully though because he was grading some of the lower years essays.

* * *

"Where's Buckbeak at Hagrid?" asked Hermione hesitantly. The last time they saw Buckbeak, he had been asleep on Hagrid's bed.

"He's - He's outside in my - my pumpkin patch. I wanted him ter see the trees an' - an' smell the fresh air while he - while he could."

While Hagrid wasn't crying this time, his hands were shaking so badly that his milk jug slipped and broke.

Hermione quickly mopped up the milk while Harry pointed his wand at the jug and said "_Reparo_".

"Surely Dumbledore can help," said Harry.

"He tried but he has no power ter override the committee. He's comin' down ya know. Says he wants ter be with me when - when they do it."

"Oh my!" screamed Hermione.

"What is it?"

"I don't believe it. Ron it's ... it's Scabbers!"

Ron looked at Hermione like she was crazy. "What are you talking about?"

"It's Scabbers." She extracted him from the jar he had been curled up inside of and handed him to Ron.

There was a noise at the window. Harry ran over to see what it was. "Fudge is coming."

"You three need ter go. You'll get into trouble if yer caught out after dark, 'specially you Harry."

* * *

Remus had just finished grading the last of his essays when he glanced at the map. What he saw made him drop them all in the floor.

"That's not possible!" he said out loud.

Movement on the right side of the map caught his eye. The dot labeled Sirius Black was running straight towards the 4 dots clustered near the Whomping Willow.

When it collided with them, Remus ran out of his office and towards the tree.

* * *

The giant black dog hit Harry in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. When he sat up, he felt as if his ribs were broken. While he was pretty sure that they weren't, it still hurt to breath.

Harry watched as the dog bounced off of him and landed near Ron. After he picked himself up, he and Hermione dove for the red head just as the dog started dragging him towards the tree.

As Ron disappeared below the tree, both of them heard a CRACK followed by a scream.

Ron's leg had broken.

"Harry how are we going to get in? This is the Whomping Willow!"

They both jumped out of the way of a flinging branch. "If that dog can do it, so can we. Let's go."

Just as they started to snake their way through the tree branches that were trying to hit them, Crookshanks darted forward and pressed a knot on the side of the tree which arrested it mid motion.

"Harry, how did he know to do that?" asked Hermione alarmed.

"I've seen him with that dog before. C'mon, before it eats Ron."

As they entered the tunnel Hermione asked, "Where does this go?"

Harry grimaced. "I have a pretty good idea. I just hope I'm wrong."

* * *

Severus glanced up at the clock. It was 9:45. He had been so busy grading papers that he had lost track of time.

He got up, gathered a goblet full of potion, and headed towards Lupin's office to give it to him.

* * *

"Ron! Where's the dog?" He and Hermione darted to Ron's side.

Through gritted teeth because of the pain in his broken leg, Ron said, "Not a dog ... he's an animagus."

"What?" Harry asked confused.

There was a creak behind them causing both Hermione and Harry to turn around with their wands drawn.

"Expelliarmus," croaked Black.

Both Harry and Hermione's wand flew into his waiting hand.

* * *

When Severus arrived at Lupins office, he was alarmed to see that he wasn't there. After sitting the goblet down, he saw the piece of parchment spread out over the desk.

His eyes widened when he realized that it was a map. After a minute of searching, Severus saw Lupin heading down the tunnel that was covered by the Whomping Willow.

A feral grin then appeared on his face that would have sent anyone sane running in the opposite direction.

Drawing his wand, Severus ran towards the Whomping Willow, while hoping that it was just Lupin and Black and that for once, Potter was in Gryffindor Tower safe and out of trouble.

* * *

A/N: I had intentions on combining the chapters again, especially since this one is so short, but I realized that I had a flaw in the next chapter, so I'm currently fixing that. It should be up in a couple of days. =) Remember... lynching the author is bad. ;-)


	55. The Shrieking Shack

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 55

* * *

Hermione and Ron watched with horror as Harry broke free of their grip and launched himself at Black.

Harry was punching Black for all he was worth. "He killed my mom and dad," was all that he kept repeating over and over in his mind.

Eventually Blacks hand got free and landed around Harry's throat. "No. You will not ruin this. I've waited too long."

As the fingers tightened around his neck, Harry's glasses went askew but from the corner of his eyes, he saw Hermione kick Black and Ron launch himself on Black's other hand, despite his broken leg.

When Ron had done that, he heard their wands hit the floor. Harry saw his wand and dove for it but Crookshanks clawed him.

"Get out of the way," screamed Harry to Ron and Hermione as he closed his hand around his wand despite the cat.

* * *

Lupin heard screaming and shuffling so he picked up he pace as he ran down the tunnel. Just as he reached the bottom floor of the shrieking shack, he stepped on a board that creaked.

"It's Sirius Black! Hurry!" he heard Hermione shout.

Taking the steps two at a time, the scene he stumbled upon shocked him. Mr. Weasley was sitting on the bed, his leg obviously broken, and was covered in blood. Ms. Granger had scratches on her face and a swollen lip. Her shoulder also appeared to be bleeding.

In the middle of the room though stood Harry with a look of madness in his eyes and he had his wand pointed at Black's chest which for some reason had a cat sitting on it.

"_Expelliarmus!_" Lupin shouted.

* * *

Harry stood in the middle of the room feeling raw and exposed. He hadn't done it. He didn't kill him when he had the chance.

He stumbled backwards towards Ron and Hermione but froze when he heard, "Where is he Sirius?"

Harry watched with no small amount of question in his eyes as Black pointed to Ron.

"I don't understand. Why ... after all this time ... unless ... unless you switched without telling me."

Black nodded.

Harry interrupted them. "Professor, what's going on?"

However before he could ask anything else, he watched with horror as Lupin helped Black up and embraced him like a brother.

Harry felt as though he had been sucker punched.

"No!" Hermione screamed startling everyone. "I trusted you. You've been helping Black into the castle. You want Harry dead!"

Everyone was looking at Hermione like she had _finally_ snapped.

"He's a werewolf. That's why he's been missing classes all year."

Ron went even paler which made Lupin look at him with concern. "Let me look at your leg Ron."

"Stay away from me werewolf," he said with such venom that even Harry started.

Lupin halted mid motion though it obviously took some force to do so and turned towards Hermione. "Not up to your usual standard Ms. Granger. Only one of three this time. I was not helping Sirius into the castle and I most certainly do not want Harry dead. However, I am a werewolf. How long have you known?"

"Since Professor Snape set the essay."

Harry looked incredulously at Lupin when he laughed. "Severus will be delighted. That was the whole reason he wanted you all to write it."

"Enough!" Sirius said as the door creaked open. He wandered over to close it. "Let me kill him Remus."

"Wait Sirius. Harry deserves to know why first."

* * *

When the door had opened, Harry felt the air around him change. Someone invisible had entered the room. He let his gaze travel to where he was sure that someone was now standing. For the briefest second, he tried to convey with his eyes to let him handle this.

The next second they were full of anger as he refocused on Black. "I know why! He betrayed my parents and sold them to Voldemort." Harry made to leap at Black again but Crookshanks hissed at him at the same time Hermione pulled him back.

"Just listen to him Harry. Let us explain - although - there are certain parts that even I don't understand."

"No!" Harry pulled himself out of Hermione's grip. Ron was still grimacing in pain on the bed holding onto Scabbers tightly. He was trying to escape because of Crookshanks.

"It will just be lies. I won't listen to them!"

"Remus," said Sirius, clearly annoyed.

"Look Harry, here's your guys' wands." Harry was flummoxed as he took the wands and gave them to his friends. Remus then put the two wands still in his hands in his pocket (his own and the one Sirius had been using). "Now your armed and we're not. Let us explain."

Harry hesitantly nodded. He listened as Remus explained how each of them had became animagus' illegally.

* * *

Severus pressed himself up against the wall. He had picked up Potters invisibility cloak at the base of the tree outside. His blood had ran cold when he realized that Potter must have snuck down to Hagrids and was most likely ambushed coming back.

He should have known that the boy would go see Hagrid. He still had much to learn about his son but the boys affection for the gate keeper was obvious.

The thought of Black having his son had made him run down the tunnel even faster.

He saw that Potter was relatively unhurt, other than a few cuts and abrasions. That had eased his mind some but not a lot.

Black was sitting on the bed at Ron's feet. Severus noted that he was staring at the rat with a severe intensity.

Lupin was pacing back and forth in the middle of the room talking.

Ron was being clawed by the rat as it tried to escape. He appeared the most hurt with the obvious broken leg.

Hermione was standing with her hand on Ron's shoulder.

Harry, he was pleased to see, at least still had his wand drawn. While it wasn't pointing at anyone, he was standing in a defensive stance. The other two could take a page out of his book.

Being this close to Black made him want to kill him straight out but he knew how to be patient. Merlin knew he could patient when he needed to be.

And besides, Severus was curious as to what lies Black and Lupin would try to feed Potter and his friends. He quietly maneuvered himself to be in a position to protect Potter and harm Black and Lupin if either tried anything suddenly.

As Lupin explained about the anamagi, he raised his eyebrows. Now _that_ certainly explained quite a few things. He, too, was surprised that they had managed to hide that from Albus.

"What does Snape have to do with this?" hissed Black.

Severus refocused his attention. The first thing he noticed was that when Black said his name, Harry's eyes darted right to where he stood invisibly and narrowed. He had been thinking of ways to torture Black while keeping an eye on Potter, who never moved from his defensive stance.

"He's still teaching here Sirius."

"Snivellus is still teaching? Has Albus lost his mind?"

Severus felt his blood boil.

"Professor Snape was at school with us and we ... er ... didn't like each other very much. You see, Sirius here played a trick on him. A trick that nearly cost him his life. A trick that involved me."

"The one my dad stopped?" Again the boys eyes flickered to where he stood.

Remus nodded.

"So Snape hates you all so much because he thought you were all in on it?" asked Harry while frowning.

Severus couldn't take it anymore. He didn't want his history exposed, especially like this.

"That's right," he sneered. He removed the cloak from himself and pointed his wand at Lupin.

* * *

Harry had a suspicion that it might have been Snape that had entered the room. He could tell that he had been standing in the corner but he was totally unprepared for the darkened glint in his professor's eyes as he removed the invisibility cloak. He looked like he was possessed by something.

"Two more for Azkaban tonight. I told the Headmaster you were helping Black all along."

"Severus," said Lupin softly. "Is a school boys grudge worth putting an innocent man back into Azkaban."

Harry's reflexes might have prevented the ropes that burst out of Snapes wand from hitting Lupin if he had known how to cast a shield over another person.

He made a note in the back of his mind that if he got out of this alright, he would look that up.

Harry and Sirius both tried to catch Lupin from falling to the floor. When Harry looked up, he saw the wand pointed at Sirius, straight between his eyes.

"Give me a reason," Harry heard Snape hiss. "Give me a reason - any reason - and I swear I'll do it."

Sirius froze.

Harry saw Snapes eye twitching and thought the glint in his eyes looked slightly feral. He was paralyzed. He didn't know what to do or who to believe but it was Hermione that spoke.

"Professor Snape, it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say would it?"

"Miss Granger. All 3 of you are likely to be suspended for being out of bounds. For once in your life, _HOLD YOUR TONGUE_!"

"But sir, what if there _was_ a mistake," she persisted.

"Keep quiet you idiotic girl. Don't talk about what you don't understand!" Now Snape really looked and sounded deranged. "Oh, how I hoped I would be the one to catch you. Vengeance is very sweet."

Sirius finally spoke up. "The jokes on you Severus. As long as the boy brings his rat up to the castle, I'll come quietly." He jerked his head towards Ron and the squeaking rat.

"Oh no. We won't need to go all the way to the castle. I imagine the dementors will be thrilled to see you. I dare say they'll have a little _kiss_ for you."

Harry had never seen Snape so - so beyond reason before. He was utterly baffled. But one thing was certain - until he learned the truth, no one could leave this room. He quickly crossed the floor and stood in front of the door.

"Potter get out of the way." Snapes eyes were still twitching.

"No. Not until I learn the truth. I want to hear what they have to say."

"Potter, you don't understand what you're saying. You certainly won't get the truth from them. Now move!"

"No. I still want to hear what they have to say," he said again quite simply. However as a token of how upset he really was, the chair in the corner of the room suddenly exploded.

"Potter get your temper under control and _MOVE_!"

"Harry calm yourself," Sirius said, very much wide-eyed as he glanced at the chair.

Harry realized that there was only one thing to do. He was probably going to get expelled but at least he would get the truth first. In half a heart beat, he pointed his wand at Snape and said, "_Expelliarmus_".

Harry watched in some confusion as the professor went flying. Then he realized that he was not the only one that spoke. While his spell would have sent Snapes wand to Harry, Ron and Hermione both tried to disarm him as well.

The power of the three spells combined knocked him unconscious.

Harry quickly untied Lupin who then checked on Snape.

"You shouldn't have done that Harry," said Sirius. "You should have left him to me."

Harry pointed his wand at Sirius. "I'm not saying I believe you. Prove to me that Ron's rat is Pettigrew or I'll hand you over to the dementor's myself."

Forty minutes later, after Lupin and Black turned Scabbers into Pettigrew, Harry was beside himself.

"No! Don't kill him," shouted Harry. Everyone (except Snape who was still unconscious) looked at Harry strangely.

"Harry, _this_ piece of garbage is why you have no parents."

"Don't kill him," Harry said more firmly.

"Sweet boy. Kind boy," sputtered Pettigrew.

"We'll take him to the castle with us and hand him over. If he's dead, the truth dies with him. Alive - and Sirius you should be set free."

"Right. We better get back to the castle then," said Lupin. "Ron, I can put a brace on your leg but we need to get you to Madam Pomphrey to fix it."

Ron nodded warily. He seemed to be too stunned for words.

Sirius pointed his wand at Snape which made him float eerily above the ground with his head lolling around. "We probably shouldn't wake him until we get back to the castle."

"Peter, if you transform at any given time, they have my permission to kill you," said Harry coldly.

Pettigrew started trembling even more.

As they all started down the tunnel, Harry and Sirius were in the back talking.

"I don't know if anyone ever told you or not but I'm your god father."

"I know."

"Well, for a while, my life might be chaotic but if you want, you can eventually come and live with me."

"Live with you?"

"Of course, I'd understand if you wanted to stay with your aunt and uncle ..."

"Are you kidding? Do you have a house? When can I move in?"

Sirius stopped walking. "Do you really want to come live with me?"

Harry nodded while smiling.

They continued to chat quietly as they walked down the tunnel.

* * *

Lupin was changing and since he never took his potion that night, he wasn't safe.

Pettigrew took advantage of the situation, grabbed Lupin's dropped wand, pointed it at Ron (who was still tied to him) and cursed him.

"_Expelliarmus! Incarcerous_!" shouted Harry.

The first spell hit. The second one missed by about 3 inches.

"Sirius! Peter changed!" yelled Harry. But Sirius didn't hear him because he was trying to distract Lupin from everyone else.

Harry and Hermione turned and looked at Ron. He was breathing but they couldn't get him to wake up.

"We need to get him to the castle," said Hermione frantically.

Harry nodded. Just as they were about to levitate Snape, Harry felt them.

The dementors had come onto the grounds.

"Sirius!" yelled Harry. He turned and ran off in the direction the dementors were heading.

"Harry!" cried Hermione. She followed after him.

* * *

Severus slowly became aware of his surroundings. He then quickly sat up and looked around. He saw Weasley spread out on the ground next to him. He swiftly knelt down beside of him to check him over.

Just unconscious.

He then started looking around for everyone else. The good news was that their were no bodies. Of course, the bad news was that he didn't know where anyone was.

Severus subconsciously put his hand in the pocket of his robe where he normally kept his wand and was surprised to find it there. Surely they would have kept it away from him?

He quickly conjured a stretcher for Weasley then looked around again - this time with the light from his wand.

"Point me Harry Potter."

Snape watched as his wand did nothing. He sighed.

"Point me Sirius Black" Yet again the wand did nothing. Just as he was about to try Miss Granger, he heard a faint "_Expecto Patronum_" come from the direction of the black lake.

He muttered a spell to have the stretcher Weasley was on to follow him and then he sprinted down the hill. To his horror, he felt dementors.

A lot of dementors.

But as he rounded the next to last bend near the lake, he saw all of the dementors head back to their stations around the grounds. He frowned. Was Albus already down there?

When he rounded the final corner what he saw made him sick to his stomach. Granger was on her back next to Potter, who had himself thrown over Black as if trying to protect him.

He ran to check on Potter first. Thankfully his hands weren't shaking too badly. This allowed him to see that all 3 were only passed out.

Potter was going to give him a heart attack if he kept this up.

After he had put all 3 on a stretcher, he put extra ropes on Black.

A mad gleam came into his eyes then. He could simply kill Black now - either say it was self defense or blame it on the dementors.

He raised his wand and pointed it at Black but then he had an image in his head of Albus looking at him disapprovingly and lowered it.

He pointed his wand at the stretchers and had them follow him into the castle while muttering under his breath.

* * *

A/N: Ok .. so it's posted sooner than I thought it would be. I'm sure none of you mind this. :P I realize that I'm going to get flogged b/c it's almost the same as the book, but I promise I have a reason for this ... even if it can't be seen yet. Next chapter should be up in a couple of days. =)


	56. Time and Talking

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 56

* * *

Albus was trying to get Fudge to go away and had almost succeeded when an elf popped into the room.

"Headmaster sir, Professor Snape has Sirius Black, Harry Potter, and his friends in the hospital wing and I is being sent to get you."

Fudge sputtered. "What?"

Albus groaned. They floo'd directly into the hospital wing.

When he saw Severus standing over Black, he raised an eyebrow at him. Looking around, he saw Hermione and Harry lying on a bed while Madam Pomphrey was doing something to Ron's leg.

"I'll take Black off to question him," said Albus and he was gone before anyone could protest.

Severus' eyes narrowed as Albus swept off. Then, before he could brace himself for the onslaught of questions, Fudge descended upon him.

McNair (the executioner) eyed him suspiciously but didn't say anything. Severus ignored him (or at least pretended to).

"McNair, go fetch a dementor for me and meet me up at the tower where Albus took Black."

McNair nodded and bolted for the door.

Fudge and Severus walked to the hospital doors to give Madam Pomphrey space to work as he explained what all happened.

* * *

"_Ennervate_" said Albus as he pointed his wand at Black.

When Sirius sat up and realized who was pointing his wand at him, he flinched but said, "Please Albus. I'm innocent. Let me explain."

Albus glanced at his watch. It was 11:35 pm. "You have 10 minutes to explain Sirius. I imagine Fudge has already summoned a dementor."

"When we were in school, James, Peter, and I became anamagi to keep Remus company during his transformations. That's how I was able to survive Azkaban."

Albus eyes widened.

"I ended up convincing James to change the secret keeper to the charm before we done the spell. We decided on Peter because we all assumed that no one would suspect him and that they would all come for me first. The plan was that I would lead them off while Peter stayed hid."

Sirius took a deep breath then continued speaking.

"I checked on him on Halloween to make sure that he was alright. I was going into hiding the next night. When I saw that he was gone with no signs of a struggle, I went to Godrics Hollow to look around. I knew James and Lily were dead because I could see the house. I saw Hagrid arrive and search the place. I couldn't bring myself to go inside so when he brought out Harry, I was shocked. I begged Hagrid to give him to me but he wouldn't."

"I told Hagrid to bring Harry to the castle while I scanned the area," said Albus. "You must have arrived while I had been doing that."

Sirius nodded. "That's what he said. I lost my mind then Albus. James and Lily were dead and I couldn't have Harry so I went hunting for Peter and I found him the next day but he was ready for me. After he yelled that I had killed Lily and James for everyone to hear, he blew up the street and cut off his finger. He then turned himself into a rat and fled down the sewers. It was a great plan and I surprised that he had came up with something like that on his own."

Sirius shifted a little.

"This past summer, during Fudge's inspection, he handed me his copy of the Daily Prophet and there on the front page was Peter. He was on the shoulder of a boy Harry's age that attended Hogwarts. He was in the perfect position to attack if any word ever reached his ears that Voldemort was gathering his followers again. And I was the only one that knew it."

"So all these attempts in the castle?" prompted Albus.

"They were my attempts to get at Peter to commit the murder that I was accused of committing."

"Sirius, I'm not sure how to get you out of this. You've not acted the part of an innocent man. I need to go speak to Fudge."

"Are Harry and his friends all right?"

"They should be fine."

* * *

Albus walked up on Severus and Fudge talking but rounded the corner just as he heard, "and you didn't see what sent them back to their stations?"

"No Minister. Only a really powerful wizard could have sent that many away at once. I had thought it was the Headmaster."

"It wasn't me Severus."

Just then there was a commotion in the hospital wing.

Harry and Hermione almost ran them over as they entered the room to see what the fuss was all about.

"Headmaster, you have to listen - " began Hermione.

"Sirius is innocent. We saw Pettigrew tonight," interjected Harry.

"Just as I said, Black confounded them."

"We're not confounded!" yelled Harry. A vase exploded at the other end of the hospital wing.

"I have just been to see Sirius and he told me his side of the story -"

Severus cut the Headmaster off. "And does my evidence count for nothing? I did not see Pettigrew."

"Severus."

Something in the Headmasters eyes made Snape flinch. "You believe him. Even though he showed that he was capable of murder at 16," he hissed, "you believe _him_."

"We'll discuss this later. I need everyone to leave this room. I need a word alone with Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger," said Dumbledore forcefully.

"Albus, I really must examine -"

"In a couple of minutes Madam Pomphrey. I need everyone to leave. Now."

Harry heard her walk off muttering. Snape and Fudge then headed up to where Black was being held.

After the doors closed, Albus turned quickly to Harry and Hermione, "We don't have much time and I beg you not to interrupt me. Sirius is being held in the top most tower on the southern side of the castle. While I believe Sirius and the fact that you appear largely unhurt you must understand that Professor Snape's version of events is more believable."

"But he hates Sirius," interrupted Harry anyway.

"Sirius has not behaved like an innocent man and without Pettigrew, we cannot hope to prove his innocence."

Harry felt devastated. He thought that Dumbledore had the answer to everything.

"What we need ... is more _time_."

Harry saw Dumbledore's eyes go from himself to Hermione and heard her gasp.

"You know the laws Miss Granger. Neither of you can be seen." The Headmaster headed back towards the hospital doors. "If you succeed, you can save more than one innocent life. It is five minutes to midnight. Three turns should do it. Remember - you - must - not - be - seen. Good luck."

Harry watched the Headmaster back out of the room. "What in the bloody hell was that about?" demanded Harry of Hermione.

He watched as Hermione pulled something from underneath her robes and lengthened the chain. He was even more confused when she wrapped it around his neck.

Harry went to touch the hourglass looking thing but she smacked his hand away. He watched as she turned it 3 times.

Suddenly he felt as if he was being tugged backwards but he couldn't make himself speak. Then they were in the hallway near the Great Hall.

Hermione grabbed his hand and dragged him to the broom closet. She slammed the door shut then pulled the necklace out from around his neck.

Harry pinched himself. It hurt so that ruled out dreaming.

"Hermione. What's going on?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"We've gone back in time." She pressed her ear to the door to listen. "Three hours back. I can hear shuffling feet. It doesn't sound like more than 3 people so that should be us on our way to Hagrids."

"Hermione, what are you talking about?"

She turned around and pulled her necklace out again. "This is called a Time Turner. It's how I've been going to my classes all year long."

"Where did you get it?" asked Harry curiously.

"McGonagall gave it to me our first day back, but Harry, I don't know what Dumbledore wants us to do."

Harry was still trying to wrap his mind around the time turner.

"Let's go. Maybe if we retrace our steps it will help," said Hermione. "Remember Harry, we cannot be seen."

Before he could process that thought, she grabbed his hand and they were running out the front door. "If we're not supposed to be seen, maybe we should circle around to Hagrid's the long way - past the green houses."

Hermione nodded and they set off towards the greenhouses.

As they neared Hagrid's, Harry heard himself say, "It's us Hagrid. We're under the cloak."

"This is the weirdest thing we've ever done." Harry's eyes rested on Buckbeak. He was alive. "Of course. He wants us to save Buckbeak then he and Sirius can escape together."

Hermione looked startled. "If we pull that off without being seen it will be a miracle because we can't free Buckbeak until after Fudge sees him."

Harry frowned. They moved closer to Buckbeak but made sure to stay hidden in the trees.

Inside the cabin, they heard Scabbers being found. "That's Pettigrew Hermione. Let's run in and get him." Harry made to spring out of the trees but she grabbed him.

"Harry, we _cannot_ be seen."

"But it's just us and Hagrid."

"What would you do if suddenly you saw yourself come flying in the room?"

Harry grimaced. "I'd think that there was something dark going on."

"Exactly. Awful things happen to wizards who meddle with time. Normally they end up killing themselves."

"Okay, okay. I just thought that -" but Hermione cut him off.

He followed her gaze and saw Fudge and the committee members coming out the castle door. As Harry went to hide behind another tree, he stepped on a branch which made a loud snapping sound.

Hermione hissed at him but that noise caused those inside the cabin to realize that Fudge was coming.

Harry and Hermione watched as the grass flattened in spaces as the trio headed back to the castle.

With themselves gone, they waited on McNairs head to leave the window. Once it did, Harry cautiously crept to Buckbeak and bowed. After the hippogriff bowed back he grabbed the rope and began tugging on it.

But Buckbeak wouldn't move.

"Let's get this over with," they heard Fudge say inside the cabin.

"Just a minute. McNair, you need to sign too," they heard Dumbledore say.

Hermione ran over, grabbed a dead ferret, and waved it in front of Buckbeak. At that, he finally followed them into the forest.

Once they could no longer see Hagrids garden, they stopped to listen.

Harry and Hermione listened as Fudge and the others argued about what to do. They were amused to realize that Dumbledore found the whole thing rather funny.

After a few minutes, Harry looked around, "Now what?"

"We need to stay hidden in the forest. Once they lock Sirius up in the tower then we can fly up there but that won't be for a couple of hours. Oh, this is not going to be easy."

"Hermione, we need to be able to see the whomping willow to know what's going on."

She nodded. "Remember though, we can't be seen."

From where they sat, they watched as themselves went down into the tree. No sooner had they done that than did the Headmaster, Fudge, and the committee members pass by.

Harry glanced in the sky as Lupin ran towards the tree and saw that the moon was completely obscured by the clouds.

"Hermione?" Harry whispered. "Why does everyone act so violently towards werewolves?"

Hermione looked at him questioningly, waiting for Hagrid to pass before speaking. "What do you mean?"

Harry helped secure Buckbeak more (he had been trying to get to Hagrid). "Earlier you assumed he was helping Sirius because he was a werewolf and Ron acted like he was contagious but werewolves are only dangerous one night a month and if they take the wolfsbane potion then they're not even dangerous that one night since they keep their mind."

Hermione looked at Harry as if she was just seeing him for the first time. They watched Snape prod the knot and vanish down the tunnel with Harry's cloak. "Harry, werewolves are dark creatures. They tend to gravitate towards the wolves natural instincts. Some do fight it and never give in but most do eventually cave. Sirius said that the reason they never told Lupin about the secret keeper change was because they thought he was the spy."

"All because of some curse that he received when he was younger? That doesn't seem fair to be judged that way."

Hermione nodded. "It's not fair and I guess I needed a new perspective to see that."

Harry saw her smile at him.

"In the world, most werewolves have no rights and are classified as little more than animals. The other side tends to offer them freedom whereas our ministry does not."

Harry frowned at that revelation.

They sat in silence for about 10 minutes when she spoke again.

"Harry what happened to us down by the lake? I remember the dementors coming and I must have passed out."

He explained what happened.

"I heard Snape tell Fudge that only a really powerful wizard could have sent them all away. He thought it was Dumbledore, but the Headmaster said that it wasn't him. If the patronus was that bright, surely you saw who it was."

Harry got up to stretch. "I thought it was my dad."

"But Harry, your dad's dead ..."

"I know."

"Was it his ghost?"

Harry shook his head. "He looked solid. I dunno. I guess I've finally gone 'round the bend." He smiled wryly at her.

Harry leaned against a tree while Hermione sat staring at the willow.

"Harry, here we come," she whispered over an hour later.

Harry watched as they emerged from the tree. He thought about running after Pettigrew but Hermione must have read his expression.

"Don't even think about it Harry. You can't find a rat in the dark."

Harry scowled then gasped. "Hermione, we've got to move. Lupin is going to run straight into us."

She untied Buckbeak. "Where?"

"Hagrid's. It's empty now. Let's go."

Once inside, Harry realized they would have no clue what was going on.

"I'll stay out of sight Hermione."

She watched him go with narrowed eyes.

* * *

Harry dove behind a bush on the opposite side of the lake. He had to know if it was his dad.

He watched with extreme horror as the dementor went to kiss him. It was then he realized that he didn't see his dad. He had seen himself.

Flinging himself out of the bush, he yelled, "_Expecto Patronum_!"

To his amazement, an animal burst out of his wand tip and charged down the dementors. When it came back, he saw what it was as it bowed. "Prongs," he whispered.

The stag then leapt back into the tip of his wand and it was dark again.

Then someone was pulling him back into the bushes.

"What did you do?" hissed Hermione.

"I just saved our lives."

"Harry ... that patronus .. .that's extremely advanced magic," she said after he had explained.

Harry nodded then pointed towards Snape who just arrived. "I knew that I could do it this time because ... well ... I'd already done it."

They worked their way around the lake and eventually saw McNair run for a dementor. "This is it Hermione."

They climbed onto Buckbeak and flew up to where Sirius was being kept.

Sirius was pacing the room he had been placed in. He had tried several times to get out unsuccessfully so when a noise came from the window, he about had a heart attack when he saw Harry and Hermione floating in mid air on a giant ... something.

"_Alohomora!_" said Hermione as she pointed her wand at the window.

Sirius was confused but never the less was able to climb out of the window on to what he now realized was a hippogriff.

They flew up to the top of the tower.

"Where's Ron? Is he alright?"

"He'll be fine. You need to leave."

"Thank you Harry. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Just go. I don't want you to get caught."

Sirius hugged Harry, hopped onto Buckbeak, and flew away.

* * *

A/N: I've had some questions about when this will start becoming more of an alternate universe. Some of it starts in the next chapter, but more so over the course of this summer and during his 4th year. Especially during his 4th year. I imagine some people aren't going to like what I'm going to do with his 4th year, but I get to have *some* fun while playing around. :p Don't get me wrong ... the major events will still happen ... but well .. I have other plans for dear sweet Harry and Snape as well. (In fact, during his fourth year ... at one point I have written Snape rendered speechless ... bwahaahah.)

Anywho, depending on how my editing goes for the next chapter, it should be up in a day or so. =)


	57. Aftermath and Surprises

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 57

* * *

"Harry, we have 10 minutes to get back before Dumbledore locks the doors!"

* * *

Severus was walking with Fudge through the castle towards where Black was being held. "I hope Albus doesn't find some way to stop this. The kiss will be administered immediately?"

Fudge nodded. "As soon as MacNair returns with a dementor. Of course, you'll be getting an Order of Merlin Second Class for apprehending Black."

Severus smirked. Oh yes. Vengeance was sweet indeed. With Black out of the way, he could finally focus on Potter.

As they climbed the last set of stairs, Severus unlocked Albus' locking ward and stopped in his tracks. The room was empty. Just then MacNair arrived with the dementor. When it sensed that Black was missing, it let out a horrible screech.

Severus added his own yelling to the screech. "Potter ..." he snarled.

Severus then started sprinting back to the hospital wing. Midway down the stairs he met the Headmaster. "You. You and Potter somehow did this. How could you do this Albus?"

Albus stared at Severus over his half moon spectacles. "Severus, I locked Harry up in the hospital wing not ten minutes ago."

"We'll see about that!"

Fudge was trying to think of ways that Black could have escaped. "He must have disapparated Severus. We really should have left someone in the room with him."

"You can't disapparate or apparate inside of this school!" yelled Severus. He was furious beyond reason. As he rounded the corner to the hospital wing doors, he sent a spell at the door that told him Albus had indeed locked the ward. He quickly unlocked it and stormed into the room.

"What did you do Potter?" He saw Potter and Granger sitting on their hospital beds eating chocolate.

"Professor Snape! Please! Control yourself!" exclaimed Madam Pomphrey.

Severus walked over to Potter. "Do you have any idea what you did? That you just let your mothers killer go free?" he hissed so low that only Harry heard him.

Harry just stared with wide eyed innocence at him.

"Now Severus," said Dumbledore. "Poppy, have these students left their beds since I locked them in?"

Madam Pomphrey shook her head no. "I would have heard them. They've not moved."

Severus and Potter were having a glaring contest. He then startled slightly when Albus put a hand on his shoulder. "He could not have done it Severus."

The potions' master turned and stormed out of the hospital wing.

Albus sighed. Until he got a chance to explain, Severus would not forgive him for this.

* * *

Severus stormed around in his quarters. His owl had flown out of the owl hole the second it saw him. How could Albus arrange for Black to escape? Despite Albus' claim of innocence, he knew that the man had orchestrated the whole thing.

And somehow Potter helped.

Frustrated beyond belief, he suddenly had an idea. He swiftly walked over to the cabinet where he stored Albus' pensieve for those times that he borrows it.

He sighed. The cabinet was empty. He must have returned it. Knowing that there really wasn't much of a choice, he strode up to Albus' office and headed to the cabinet. He had the Headmasters permission to borrow it any time he needed to.

Curiously, Albus was not in his office. 'He must still be dealing with the minister', he thought. After leaving a note telling the man he borrowed it, he headed back to his quarters.

Severus barricaded himself in his library and calmed himself down. He knew that even though he was unconscious, his subconscious would have picked up on the conversation that was going on around him.

He was counting on that now.

Severus approached the pensieve and concentrated on the memory from where he first entered the whomping willow and ended it when he woke up outside of the tree.

Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, he touched the surface with his finger tip, which pulled him into the memory.

He watched as the scene played out. When he was knocked unconscious the memory dimmed to almost total darkness. Everyone's voice became as a whisper but he was still able to distinguish phrases every once in a while.

"I'm not saying I believe you." That was Potter.

The next clear thing he heard was from Black. "Fudge gave me his paper and there on the front page was Peter on the shoulder of a boy Harry's age."

"He's been scared of that cat!" That came from Weasley.

"Well faking his own death had worked once before." That was from Black as well.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Severus was confused because that came from Potter and he sounded pissed.

"I persuaded James to change to Peter at the last moment."

Then Severus heard something that made him blink in disbelief. He just heard Peter Pettigrews' voice.

There were a few other sentences here and there that Severus couldn't help but shake his head at. Then he heard Pettigrew ask, "What was there to gain by refusing him?"

And he heard Black's reply. "Only innocent lives Peter."

"NO!" Severus wasn't expecting that yell so he startled slightly. "Don't kill him!"

That was Potter's voice, which confused him, until he heard the next clear thing said.

"If he's dead, the truth dies with him. Alive - and Sirius, you should be set free."

Potter was more merciful than he would have been. He eventually became aware of the fact that he was being moved. Since he had been starting to come around some by this time, the memory brightened a little. Thus he was able to hear most of the conversation in which Black asked Potter to come live with him.

Severus felt something tear inside of him when he heard Potter answer so quickly.

Eventually the memory kicked him out. After he returned it to his mind, he strode into his room and retrieved Lily's letter.

'_James done something without my approval nor my knowledge before hand and it's giving me one of my feelings. One of my bad feelings. The nature of the charm prevents me from telling you what was done but suffice to say it is not what was planned.'_

He was an idiot. Lily basically told him that they had changed the secret keeper. Why had he not realized that before?

Severus resumed pacing and replayed what he learned over in his mind.

* * *

The next afternoon found Harry, Hermione, and Ron sitting by the lake. They had finally explained to Ron what happened while he had been unconscious.

"I still can't believe you didn't tell us about the time turner," said Ron scathingly.

"I was sworn to secrecy Ron."

Harry was looking across the lake. Ever since he woke up, he felt weird, tired. He just assumed it was lag from the time turner usage, though he did notice that Hermione didn't seem to be affected.

"Hey you three," said Hagrid. He was swinging around some kind of dead animal. "Guess what?"

"What?" they all asked.

"Beaky got free!"

"That's great Hagrid," said Hermione.

"Shame about Black getting away though. Harry, Professor Lupin said that he'd like a word when you get a free minute."

Harry nodded. "I'll go see him now. See you guys later."

He headed off towards Lupin's office.

* * *

"Hello Harry," said Lupin pleasantly.

Harry's hand froze in mid air. He had been about to knock on the door.

"I saw you coming." Lupin pointed to the map open on his desk.

Harry looked around the room. There were packed boxes and trunks scattered everywhere. "Are you going somewhere sir?"

"I'm leaving in a couple of hours Harry."

"What? Why?"

"Because what happened last night cannot happen again." He rounded the desk and sat on the front of it. "I cannot put you or your friends in danger again. To do so would kill me. If I would have hurt you or anyone else last night, I would not be able to live with myself."

"Something tells me that last night was an isolated incident."

Lupin laughed. "You sounded just like Lily then. No. I need to go. I can't take the chance that someone saw me out on the grounds and informed their parents that a werewolf was out running amok. It wouldn't take long for them to figure out who it was."

Harry frowned. "It's not fair. What is it with people being afraid of a werewolf? Technically speaking, you're only dangerous the night of the full moon."

Lupin smiled at Harry. "Lily once made that same rant to me. It's just in peoples nature to be afraid of what they don't understand."

Harry sighed. "Hermione told me that you don't have many rights - at least not the same as every other wizard."

"We don't Harry."

"That's not fair."

"It's something my kind is used to and life _isn't _fair."

To Lupin's surprise, Harry snorted. "So Snape keeps telling me."

Harry was silent as he watched Lupin pack a few things up.

"Albus told me what you did last night. Tell me about your patronus."

"How did you two know about that? I didn't tell anyone ... other than Hermione and Ron."

Remus smiled as he closed one of the trunks. "Who else could have made those Dementors go away?"

"What was dad's animagus form?"

"He turned into a stag," said Remus with a fair bit of curiosity laced in his voice.

Harry nodded. That's what he thought. He grinned. "That's what my patronus is."

Lupin looked over his shoulder. He saw Albus standing in the door way then he realized that Harry's smile didn't reach his eyes. "What's wrong Harry?"

Harry sighed again. "None of it made a difference. Sirius is still on the run, Pettigrew got away ..."

"Didn't make a difference? Harry it made all the difference in the world." He sat down on his now cleaned off desk. "Last night you saved a man from a horrible fate and uncovered the truth that was kept from everyone for 12 years."

"I wanted to go live with him. He asked me last night. I had a chance to _finally_ leave the Dursley's. I suppose that won't be possible now." Harry fidgeted with his robe. "Professor Lupin, can I write to you? You are the best defense professor we've ever had - not to mention the only one that hasn't tried to kill me directly, and well ... it'd be nice to have some link to my parents."

Lupin smiled. "Of course you can. Your owl can find me. It's time for me to get going. I'm sure I'll see you again Harry." He handed Harry the map enclosed in his invisibility cloak and winked.

Harry nodded and turned around after putting it in his pocket. He wasn't surprised to see Dumbledore standing there. They watched Lupin walk away with his trunks floating behind him.

"Sir, can I ask you a question?"

Dumbledore smiled down at Harry. "Of course, my boy."

"Why did Voldemort come after me as a baby?"

Albus was startled. He looked at Harry. "What makes you ask that?"

Harry went and sat in a chair near Lupin's vacated desk. "Two things actually."

The Headmaster sat down across from him.

"First, Professor Trelawney made a prediction yesterday during my exam. Her voice changed and her eyes rolled up in her head. She said," Harry took a deep breath, "that Voldemort's servant would be set free after 12 years and with the servants aide , he would rise up more terrible than before."

Albus internally cringed. "And the other reason?"

"When the Dementors get near me, I hear my parents being murdered. My dad told my mom to take me and run. When Voldemort met up with my mom, he gave her the chance to stand aside if she would just give me up. She refused so he killed her too."

Harry had let his gaze travel to the floor.

Albus frowned. While he had always wondered what exactly went on that night, he _never_ wanted to find out via Harry's memories.

"So, please tell me sir, why did Voldemort come after me to begin with?"

Harry watched the Headmaster get up and look out of the window. When Dumbledore turned around, he realized that he wasn't going to get his answer.

"Harry, I will tell you one day but for now, I don't want to burden you."

"No offense sir, but it seems that every year so far I've had to fight for my life or for those of my friends. I feel I have a right to know why I'm being targeted, especially if that was a real prediction Trelawney made."

"You do Harry but I want you to stay a child for a little while longer."

Harry snorted. "No offense Professor but I don't think I've _ever_ been a child."

Albus looked at him curiously but before he could ask why he believed that, Harry seemingly changed the subject.

"Is there anyway you could set up a safe house for Sirius so that I can go stay with him?"

"Harry, we talked about this last year. You have to go back to your aunt and uncles house -"

"For at least 2 weeks," Harry finished lamely.

"Why don't you like staying with them Harry?"

Harry shrugged. "They've never liked me and ever since I've came to Hogwarts this has felt more like a home to me than there _ever_ has." Harry laid his hand on the wall and smiled.

He could feel the power of Hogwarts through its walls and it soothed him.

Albus raised an eyebrow at the gesture. He didn't miss the way Harry's face had relaxed as soon as he had touched the wall.

The Headmaster then sighed. He needed to know the answer. "Harry, do the Dursley's abuse you?" he asked gently, but bluntly.

Harry turned to look at the Headmaster and said something that sounded far wiser beyond his years. "If you have to ask, then you probably already know the answer." Harry walked to the door. "I need to run up to the library sir. I'm going to see if Madam Pince will let me check out a couple of books on meditation for the summer. I don't want to blow anyone up again." As Harry headed out the door, he paused and looked back over his shoulder. "And sir, I'm not giving up on that reason. I will ask again."

Harry left the room and headed towards the library effectively leaving the Headmaster alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Severus was finishing up his grading when a knock at the door made him look up.

Severus let a well placed sneer take over his face when he saw Lupin. He was still pissed beyond belief for a variety of reasons.

He did not sleep the prior night. Actually, he was surprised that Albus hadn't ambushed him yet.

"It's really not a good time Lupin."

Severus saw Lupin enter and close the door anyway. He felt wards go up around the office.

"How long have you known?"

"How long have I known what? That you were a reckless man?" he snarled.

Remus sighed. "No. How long have you known that Harry was your son?"

* * *

A/N: Remember, no throwing things at me! This was originally two chapters ... the first one ending when Harry asked Dumbledore why Voldemort came after him as a baby ... but that would have left the second one really crazy short ... so I combined them. I'll have to add in a cliff hanger later on to make up for the one I took away. *grins*

As an aside ... any one else realize that Severus didn't out Remus as a werewolf? Of course ... I imagine that by the time you got the end of the chapter, you wished he had. hehe I asked a while back if any of you all got the impression that Lupin was hiding something. See. He was! *points*

I should have the next chapter up in a day or two ... at least it'll stop things being thrown at me. (I hope.)


	58. Lupin's Secret's

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 58

* * *

Severus' head snapped up. He quickly erected his own privacy barriers over top of Lupins then circled the desk.

"You knew?"

"I've known from the moment I laid eyes on him that he was your son. My sense of smell is quite keen."

"Enlighten me Lupin. Were you _ever_ going to tell me?"

Severus wanted to snap Lupin in half when he said quite calmly. "It wasn't my place to do so."

"Even after Lily and Potter were dead and the boy had no one, you still felt that it wasn't your _place _to tell me that Harry was my son?"

"I had assumed that Lily had a fail safe in place in case her and James both died, that she would find some way to get the information to you. Clearly she did since you know."

"Dammit Lupin. I just found out this past February that he's mine. I've lost years with him. Years! Years that I can never get back. I don't know how to be a father now because of that - not to a teenager."

Lupin snorted which caused Severus to narrow his eyes at him. "You teach teenagers everyday. You -"

"And most of them run at the sight of me, as they should. How did you know that I knew?"

"Last night, whether you realized it or not, you positioned yourself between Sirius and Harry, as if you were protecting him."

"He's a student. Of course I protected him."

"Maybe, but you've not been watching the other students as if you have been trying to learn everything you could about them."

Severus hissed and said a whole flurry of curse words.

"Don't worry about being noticed Severus. I do recognize the position that you are in, but I've been watching you extraordinarily close all year long - looking for signs that you knew."

"And when did you come to the conclusion that I did?" he snarled.

"For certain? When you told me a few minutes ago. And if you didn't know, well it was my way of finally telling you."

Severus sighed, mostly in frustration and partly out of exhaustion. He eyed Lupin standing in the middle of his office. "Did you know that James had changed the secret keeper?"

"You've already talked to Albus?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "No."

"Then how did you know?"

"Because Lily told me in the letter that she wrote when she informed me that I had a son."

"Severus, that letter could exonerate Sirius."

Severus shook his head. "No it can't. It doesn't come right out and say that. I only figured it out last night after I used Albus' pensieve to review what happened once I was knocked unconscious."

He saw Lupin frown, then watched as indecision flickered through his eyes.

"What is it Lupin? I hate being kept in the dark, especially if it concerns Harry."

"If Lily wrote you a letter, I assume that she told you about the potion she used to change how Harry looked?"

"She did. How did you find out about the potion? In her letter, she said that she only suspected that you knew his true parentage - not that you knew everything." Severus took a seat behind his desk again.

He watched as Remus sat down in a chair across from his desk.

"I found out the same way that James did," Remus said warily.

"Excuse me?" Severus was sure that he had heard incorrectly.

Remus nodded. "During his auror training, he was looking for something and came across a book that had pages book marked and Lily's notes all over it. James may not have done as well in potions as you and Lily but he figured out what that potion would do and could only come to one conclusion as to why she would have researched it.

"He was devastated of course, but he had always known that he held the number two spot in her heart, behind you, and he was okay with that. After all, in his mind, since he had her and you did not - he had won."

Severus sneered and balled his hands into a fist.

"When James found that potion, Harry had just turned 3 months old. He panicked. He had to tell someone. He knew that Sirius would most likely kill you, as you were the only one that Lily would have betrayed him with. James doubted Peter would have offered any insight so he turned to me.

"He loved Harry with all of his heart. Finding out that he was your son did not change that. So I helped him research and perform a blood adoption to bind Harry to him as his son."

"You and him did what?" Severus nearly drew his wand on Lupin right there.

Remus winced. "Like I said, James loved Harry, even though he was not his. James was the last of the Potter line and needed an heir. The blood adoption allowed that to happen, plus it _ensured_ that a paternity test would definitely show James as the father. And the ritual allowed Harry to take on some of James' traits."

"The potion Lily used already made a paternity test show James as the father," snarled Severus.

"Neither of us thought to check back then and most of what was written in that book was like a foreign language to us."

"And since neither of you thought to check, I'm sure neither of you thought about how a blood adoption would have interacted with the potion that Lily gave him? Now, even if I _do_ brew the reversal potion, it might not work." Severus' hand inched closer to his wand.

"Does that mean that you are going to tell Harry?"

"Yes. No. I don't know."

Severus watched as Lupin stood. "Lily loved you Severus. She also loved James. They both loved Harry very much. James is as much his father as you are, as you need to be. Tell him before he finds out on his own."

"You will _not_ tell him," snarled Severus as he stood up, pointing his wand at Lupin's chest.

"I won't say a word to him but he desperately wants to be a part of a family. I can see it in his eyes. While he's never said his relatives abuse him, he has said that they don't like him."

"And what of Black?"

"Sirius is a wanted criminal right now. He is in no position to give anyone a home."

"And if he is proven innocent? Do you honestly believe that he'll _let_ Harry live with me? The man escaped from Azkaban to protect his godson!"

"Your claim as father supercedes his claim of godfather."

"We can't tell anyone Lupin. If the Dark Lord returns, how would I explain to him that Harry is my own flesh and blood? It would be expected of me to offer the boy up just to be killed."

"You honestly believe that he will return?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe," he said stiffly.

"Right. And in the meantime, you lose out on a chance to have a family, and so does Harry. For now, do not concern yourself with Sirius. When the time comes, I'll be able to handle him."

Severus watched as Remus walked to the door. "I promised Harry that I would be there for him if he needed me. I know that you don't like me very much, especially since I kept this information from you, but I want you to know that I'll be there for you as well if _you_ need me. Tell him Severus. He deserves to have a family just like you do."

With that said, Remus removed the wards he had cast and left the office.

Severus threw himself back down into his chair and put his head in his hands.

He felt a headache coming on.

* * *

_June 30, 1994_

_I found 2 books on meditation in the library. I have them packed already. Maybe something in one of them will make sense to me and help me control my temper._

_I can throw a shield over other people now. I've been practicing with Ron and Hermione. I feel better knowing that I can try to protect someone else if the need arises._

_Ron said that the Quidditch World Cup is being hosted by England this summer and that if Mr. Weasley could get tickets, I might be able to go. That would be awesome._

_The few times that I've seen Snape, he looks at me funny, like he's trying to figure me out. It's not the look that I would have expected to get from him. Part of me wants to apologize to him for knocking him unconscious but it does seem that I have a Slytherin side after all - self preservation. I've decided to lay low instead._

_Dumbledore has been looking at me funny too. I can't believe that he actually asked me if the Dursley's abuse me. I can't believe that I told him he already knew the answer._

_I wonder where Sirius is now and if he's all right. I suppose that he was my only shot of having a family. I'd give most anything for a real family - people who would be proud of me for who I am and what I can do. I'll never get that from the Dursley's._

_-Harry_

Harry stowed his journal in his trunk and threw himself down on his bed. His roommates were sound asleep, as they should be.

It was four in the morning.

He was wide awake. Sighing, he reached for one of his pillows and pulled it over his head.

* * *

At the final breakfast, like usual, grades were handed out. Harry tentatively opened his list.

Ancient Runes - E

Astronomy - A

Care of Magical Creatures - O

Charms - O

Defense Against the Dark Arts - O

Divination - A

Herbology - E

History of Magic - E

Potions - A

Transfiguration - A

Harry was mostly pleased with his grades. Actually he figured that Snape would have out right failed him just because he could, but at least the man didn't.

A commotion at the end of the table caused Harry to look up. Fred and George Weasley had hexed Oliver Woods' hair red and gold. He laughed along with everyone else.

* * *

Together, with Ron and Hermione, the trio headed down towards the train station.

"Harry, can you save me a seat?"

Harry looked up at Neville. "Sure."

"I'll be there in a minute."

They continued on their way to the platform.

Once ensconced in a compartment, the four of them entered into a game of gobstones. About an hour into the train ride, Neville noticed a strange sight.

There was a tiny owl flying in and out of view of the window carrying an envelope that was much bigger than it was. Harry quickly opened the window and caught it.

"Feels like a fluffy snitch," he said while chuckling.

The owl bit him for his comment.

Harry saw that it was addressed to him.

When he opened it, he scanned down to see who it was from. He got excited when he saw that it was from Sirius.

Before he could read it though, Ron asked who it was from. Harry glanced at Neville and sighed. Neville was his friend too.

"Neville, can you keep a secret?"

"Er ... Harry I can try but honestly I suck at keeping secrets."

Harry frowned. "I trust you Neville but it's a pretty big one."

Neville smiled. "I don't trust me. I'll go see what Justin is doing."

"You don't have to leave," Harry said frowning even deeper.

"I'll be back in a few minutes. Watch Trevor for me?"

Hermione nodded.

Once Neville was gone, Harry read the letter out loud.

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope this owl finds you before you reach your aunt and uncles house. I have some doubts about its reliability but it seemed eager for the job._

_There are a couple things I never quite had the time to tell you. First, your Firebolt is from me. Consider it 13 years worth of birthday presents._

_Second, the night that you left your uncles house last year, I think that I might have given you a fright. I'm sorry about that. I had hoped to get a glimpse of you before I headed north. I knew that you lived in that neighborhood. I just wasn't sure where. I met Petunia once but she wasn't married then. I knew that her husband moved in with her, instead of the other way around. Lily had ranted about it for weeks._

_I plan on letting some muggles see me soon away from the castle that way some of the security can be drawn off._

_Don't worry. Buckbeak and I will be safe._

_Oh, and the second piece of paper might make next year more enjoyable._

_If you need me Harry, just send word. Your owl will find me. I'll write to you as soon as I can._

_Love,_

_Padfoot_

Harry glanced at the second piece of paper.

_I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, hereby give Harry Potter permission to visit Hogsmeade._

_Sirius Black_

He grinned then looked up at his two best friends.

"That'll be good enough for Dumbledore," said Ron.

"I told you that he sent the Firebolt," said Hermione scathingly.

"Well, it wasn't jinxed though."

Harry tuned out their squabbling and re-read the letter. It was during the re-read that Harry spotted the post script on the back.

"I thought your friend Ron might like to keep this owl since its my fault he no longer has a pet rat," Harry read out loud.

Ron's eyes widened. The owl was hooting shrilly which made Hedwig narrow her eyes at it.

Then Ron did something that made Harry and Hermione burst out laughing. He took the owl and held it out for Crookshanks to sniff. "Whaddya think Crookshanks? Definitely an owl?"

The response was a purr.

In what seemed like no time, they arrived back at Platform 9 3/4 (with a story for Ron's parents about where the owl came from). After setting Hedwig free to fly back to Hogwarts, they went through the barrier.

"You ready boy?" snarled his Uncle Vernon.

Harry sighed and pulled his trunk up behind him. "Yes Uncle Vernon."

"Did you leave your pigeon at that place again?"

"Yes Uncle Vernon."

It was then his uncle saw the paper in his hand.

"What's that?"

Harry looked down. "It's a letter from my godfather."

Vernon's eyes narrowed. "You haven't got a godfather."

"Yes I do," said Harry grinning. "And he's a convicted murderer. He escaped out of prison just to check up on me."

"Nonsense."

"You remember that man on the news last year?"

Vernon nodded warily.

"That's him. He likes to check in to make sure I'm happy and being treated right."

Harry saw his uncle pale as they left the train station.

'Maybe ... just maybe this wouldn't be a bad summer after all,' he thought.

* * *

A/N: If I keep up this one a day chapter posting, you all are gonna get spoiled. It will backfire when I get caught up to my writing but that's alright. For what it's worth, the summer months are spread out over a few chapters. (It's gonna be a busy summer.) Some people are going to say that I'm jumping the shark with what all I have planned (I've written up through half way of the 5th year, but I've yet to actually type the 4th year) ... but I've decided that it's my story line ... I should be able to play with it. =) Of course, I'm doing my best to keep it all as real as possible ... well as real as this world is anyway. =)

Next up, the Headmaster get's a rude awakening! *grins*


	59. Eye Opening Conversations

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 59

* * *

It was two days after the students had left that Severus knocked on the Headmaster's door.

"Come in."

Severus entered the office carrying the pensieve and replaced it in its normal spot. "I've come to return this to you."

"Thank you, my boy."

"I've got to say that I'm surprised you have not ambushed me yet."

"Now Severus, I do not ambush people."

"Whatever you say Headmaster," he said wryly.

Albus smiled. "Besides, I know better than to provoke you when you are that angry at me. I gave you the space you needed and assumed that when you were ready to talk, you would come to me."

Severus simply snorted. "Lupin came to see me on the day he left."

"Oh?" Albus asked as he took a seat behind his desk.

Severus nodded. "It would appear that James knew that Harry was my son."

Albus' eyes widened in shock.

Severus simply nodded. "Lupin evidently knew as soon as he set eyes on Harry whom he belonged to." He tried to hide the resentment in his voice, but realized that he didn't succeed very well.

"All these years Remus knew that Harry was your son?"

Severus gave a slight nod. "That's not all he knew either. When James learned that Harry wasn't his, he performed a blood adoption to bind the boy to him so that it would be as if he _was_ his son."

"Lily allowed that?"

Severus grimaced. "I imagine that Lily would have killed James herself. No. Remus said that they performed the ritual in secret."

"Did Remus tell you which blood adoption spell James used?"

Severus shook his head. "He couldn't remember off the top of his head. Only he would forget something like that."

"I'm going to be gone for a couple of weeks. I have some research to do. You'll mostly have the castle to yourself," said Albus after about 20 minutes more of talking.

Severus nodded. It wasn't an unusual occurrence during the summer months.

"I'll need you to put some feelers out when you can. I'm worried that Pettigrew will try to find Voldemort and return him to his body."

"After all this time? How would he even be able to find him?"

Albus sighed. "Trelawney made another prediction - this time to Harry. It said that after being chained for 12 years, his servant would raise the Dark Lord and that he would be more terrible than before."

Severus sneered. "A real prediction?"

"It seems to be. That brings her up to two."

"I suppose that it's good that I've not told Harry yet. Maybe I shouldn't, at least not until the Dark Lord is gone for good."

"Severus, you need to tell him before then. He deserves the truth and you deserve a son. Who knows how long this war will last."

"Maybe we'll get lucky for once and Pettigrew won't find the Dark Lord."

Albus looked up, his eyes shining brightly. "When did _you_ become an optimist?"

"When Lily told me that I have a son with her, something I had long thought impossible. Enjoy your time away from the castle." With that said, Severus walked out of the office.

* * *

It was a little over a week after school let out. Harry stood up to stretch. He had just finished up the last of his homework when he heard his uncle's alarm go off.

He quietly stored his book in his trunk and crossed back over to his cot. So far, his uncle had left him alone.

Once his aunt confirmed that she remembered Sirius, Harry had been allowed to keep his stuff in his room.

After swearing not to do any 'funny business', of course.

He was even being fed twice a day. The only chores he had to do involved cooking.

Hedwig hooted softly and flew out of the window. She comes to visit at night but makes herself scarce during the day. His uncle still thought that she was at Hogwarts.

* * *

Albus launched the book across his desk.

"Useless," he muttered. He pulled his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted and disgusted. "All these books at my disposal and not one of them tells me anything that I don't already know."

He was due to return back to Hogwarts the next day to begin preparations for the Tri-Wizard Tournament that was to start this upcoming school year.

Albus glanced at the clock. It was nearing time for dinner. He sighed and made his way to the kitchen to rummage for a snack (much to the annoyance of his house elves).

* * *

"Remember what I said boy! Not a sound!"

Harry nodded and went into his 'prison'. He heard the locks click on the outside of the door. He had just finished cooking a very nice dinner that involved roast and all of the fixings.

Of course he hadn't been allowed any of it. His dinner had been two cheese sandwiches, which was fine with him. He could have forced the issue by threatening to tell his god father but he had come to enjoy his time alone. He didn't want to force his Uncle's hand unnecessarily.

The school nurse where Dudley attended school had written to his aunt and uncle saying that his cousin had to lose weight. After many, many tantrums the diet began. As soon as Harry realized that his Aunt Petunia has planned on putting the whole family on the diet, he sent Hedwig to all his friends.

They had responded generously. He had a whole compartment in his trunk stuffed with food, which was another reason he didn't complain. He knew that he would not be hungry.

Tonight was really the first time that the diet would be ignored since it began. He was thankful he wouldn't have to see Dudley pig out more than normal.

Harry heard the door bell ring. There was an important dinner guest over tonight. Determined to make use of his time that he knew he wouldn't be interrupted, Harry quietly pulled out one of the extra defense books that he had purchased the previous year.

He had been practicing the movements with a pencil and repeating the words only in his head. The last thing he needed to do was set off the underage magic detector.

If Voldemort really was coming back, he would do his best to be prepared.

About an hour after the guest had arrived, Harry heard someone come up the stairs. He quickly and quietly stored his book away and resumed his seat on the cot.

There he began practicing his meditation techniques. He was getting a lot better at it. He certainly felt calmer after performing the exercises.

* * *

Albus looked at Kingsley Shacklebolt in his doorway.

"What's wrong Kingsley? I thought that you were coming to see me tomorrow at the castle."

"Can I come in?"

"Of course. Sorry. Katty!"

A house elf popped into the foyer. "Can you make us some tea and bring it to the library?"

"Certainly sir."

As the elf popped away, they went to the library and sat down. Well Albus sat down, Kingsley just blurted out, "That had to have been the wrong house."

Albus looked up confused and gestured for the man to sit down.

"Number 4, Privet Drive?"

Shacklebolt frowned as Albus handed him a cup of tea. "It was the right house then but Albus ... there was no indication that Harry lived there at all. No pictures. Nothing. I didn't even _see_ him tonight."

"He wasn't there?" asked Albus alarmed. Since Kingsley was an Auror - and a good friend - he had sent him to check up on Harry discreetly to see if anything could be proved because the boy had been right.

If he had to ask, then he already knew the answer.

It had, unfortunately, been a couple of weeks before Kingsley could get an invite to the Dursley home.

"If he was there, then he was in the locked room upstairs - with the locks on the outside."

Kingsley sat back because he saw the fire in Albus' eyes.

"I asked about the door because there was a cat flap on the bottom of it. Mrs. Dursley said that they had a cat and that it liked to go in the storage room."

Albus stood and began pacing.

"That's not all, Albus."

Albus turned around to look at him.

"When I crossed the property barrier, I felt no wards."

* * *

A/N: It's not very long .. but that was just a cliff hanger I couldn't pass up on. *grins innocently* The next chapter is longer ... and Harry discover's something strange. *points to the halo above my head*

A/N: Now for some of my traditional warnings. A/N: Warning, Harry will be powerful, but he won't be super duper powerful. He will still have to struggle with certain things as well as deal with other childhood issues. Harry is going to be incredibly smart, but don't worry about him out-doing Hermione ... to an extent anyway. [I've always seen her as more of a book smart, and him as an experience is learned kind of smart.] (Evil smirk) And to alleviate some fears, he won't all of a sudden wake up and realize woah, I can take on the world! It will be a slow on going process. (Smile)


	60. Discussions and a Birthday

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 60

* * *

"When I crossed the property barrier, I felt no wards."

"That's not possible. I cast that spell myself."

"I could be wrong. Merlin knows that it wouldn't be the first time."

"But you don't think you are?"

"No. I do not think that I am. With all that I have seen tonight, I have enough proof to bring them in for questioning."

Albus sighed. If Severus and / or Sirius find out about this, he imagined they would both kill him and then go after them. "No. I know that the Weasley's were planning on taking Harry to the Quidditch World Cup. Molly told me that they managed to get a couple extra tickets. I'll talk to them tomorrow about collecting him early."

"A month early?"

"I'm sure that they won't mind. I'll see about talking to Harry but I doubt that he will tell me anything."

"Albus, the Dursley's are not nice people. Surely he would want out of there."

"Oh, I imagine that he does but he's also a bit cross with me at the moment because I wouldn't tell him something that he wanted to know." At Kingsley's questioning look, he waved him off. "It's a long story."

Albus watched his elf clear away the tea set. "I'll send an owl to Cornelius when you leave telling him that I'm going to check the wards around Harry's house that way his underage magic detector doesn't go off. We wouldn't have to be so careful with that if he wasn't the only wizard or witch living for miles around."

"What do you want me to do?"

Albus sighed. "Nothing for now. Thank you for doing this for me."

"It's not a problem." Kingsley got up to leave. "Let me know if you need anything else. I told the Dursley's that I needed to consult with my partner in regards to the business deal. That should allow me a reason to go back if I need to."

Albus nodded and walked Kingsley to the door. After the man left, he went back to his library and sat down.

'Severus being Harry's father shouldn't have affected the wards because it was based on his mother's sacrifice. That also ruled out the blood adoption that James used,' he thought.

Albus could only think of two reasons that the wards would fail. Harry had quit thinking of the Dursley's house as home or his aunt had kicked him out of the house. He sincerely hoped it was the first because if it was the latter, there wouldn't be anything left of the Dursley's for Severus or Sirius to deal with.

Deciding that an owl would take too long, he headed to the fireplace. He would floo the minister instead.

* * *

Harry was running, trying to get away from something. Suddenly he was in a stone room. It looked like someplace he had been before. On the left hand side of the room were two doors. He knew that if he could just get to them, he would be safe.

A noise caused him to jump. He screamed when he saw a jet of green light come at him.

"POTTER!"

"Crap," muttered Harry. He had woken up his uncle for the third time that week. "Sorry Uncle Vernon!" yelled Harry through the wall. His uncle had threatened to withhold food from him when he woke him up accidently the first time but his aunt had reminded his uncle about Sirius. She said that they definitely didn't want him to show up because the neighbors would talk.

He got up to shake the effects of the dream off. A glance out of the window showed that it was nearing dawn. He would be leaving for the Weasley's that afternoon.

Harry had been thrilled to learn that he would be leaving the Dursley's a month early. His uncle had debated on letting him leave at all. On one hand, he would be rid of Harry after only 2 ½ weeks. On the other, it would be granting him something he wanted.

In the end, Harry played his godfather card. He was through taking his uncle's crap. After a couple of minutes, he sat on his bed and meditated until it was time to be let out of the room for his shower.

* * *

"Severus, please sit down. Your pacing is driving me up the wall."

"Will Harry be safe?"

"He'll be up in the Minister's box."

"That doesn't make me feel much better. How did Arthur get tickets for the minister's box?"

"When Cornelius realized that Harry was indeed going and with whom, he upgraded Arthur's tickets. Naturally Arthur realized that it was just a ploy to show off Harry to the foreign dignitaries but he couldn't say no."

"When is he going to the Weasley's?"

"He'll be leaving today. Have you heard anything from your contacts yet?"

* * *

"They're coming by the fireplace," exclaimed Harry.

"What? I've never heard such nonsense," replied his uncle.

"Harry. If you can hear us, stand back!"

Harry blinked as the dust settled in the room. Mr. Weasley had unblocked the fireplace by blowing it up.

Then he squinted. All of the Weasley's had a glowy thing at the base of their feet. Figuring he would worry about that later, he focused on the fact that Dudley had a big tongue that was growing larger by the second.

* * *

"That was brilliant Fred," Ron said as Harry emerged from the fireplace at the Weasley's.

Harry saw who he assumed was Charlie and Bill, Ron's older brothers, sitting at a table. They also had a glowy thing around their feet. "What did you drop?" asked Harry curiously.

"Ton Tongue Toffee," said Fred. "George and I invented them."

Mr. Weasley popped into the living room by apparating at that moment.

"How big did his tongue get?" asked George eagerly.

"It got to be 6 feet before his parents would let me fix it. You two should know better. Just wait until I tell your mother."

"Hello Harry. Tell me what?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she came out from in the kitchen.

"Hi Mrs. Weasley. Thank you for inviting me over," said Harry.

"It's no problem at all Harry. Ron, take Harry up to your room. Tell me what Arthur?"

"Let's go Harry. You don't want to witness this," whispered Ron.

"We'll help," volunteered Bill and Charlie.

"So will we!" offered the twins.

"Oh no you don't," exclaimed Mrs. Weasley.

As Harry walked up the stairs, they walked by Percy's room. "Where's Percy?"

Bill grimaced. "He's at work. Please, whatever you do, do not mention Crouch or cauldron bottoms around him."

"Oh yea. Ron told me that in his letter."

"Want to get your broom and fly some?" asked Ron as they entered his room. "Bill and Charlie have theirs as well."

"Sure!" said Harry. He opened his trunk, grabbed his Firebolt, and then headed down to the backyard.

* * *

_July 17, 1994_

_Harry,_

_How is your summer going? You and your cousin aren't out causing trouble I hope. How is his diet coming along?_

_Buckbeak and I are doing alright. We're still in hiding._

_I included the latest Quidditch Monthly magazine with this letter. You could have given your dad a run for his money with your flying skills and that's saying something. You would have made him so proud and your mother as well._

_If you ever need me, just send your owl. She'll find me._

_Love,_

_Padfoot_

Harry couldn't help but smile. He glanced at the calendar on Ron's wall. It was the twenty-fifth. That meant that Sirius must be far away and judging by the bird that was perched in Ron's window looking at him expectantly, some place warm.

Harry quietly got up and retrieved a quill and parchment from his trunk. Ron was still asleep since it was only 4am and he didn't want to wake him. (He was afraid to sleep much because he didn't want to wake the Weasley's up since they were being so nice to him.)

_July 25, 1994_

_Dear Padfoot,_

_Thanks for the magazine. I'm glad for something non school related to read. Don't worry though. I've actually finished all of my summer homework._

_I'm at the Weasley's now. We're going to the World Cup next month. I'm so excited. They picked me up last week. The twins are big into inventing stuff and they knew that Dudley was on a diet so they dropped some candy that made his tongue huge. It was pretty funny._

_The twins have invented all sorts of things. Fake wands, babble bubble gum, and lots of other stuff. They have to hide it from Mrs. Weasley though. _

_Please stay safe and tell Buckbeak that I said hi._

_Love,_

_Harry_

Harry looked over the letter and gave it to the bird, who then flew away. That done he crawled back into bed to stare at the ceiling some more.

* * *

Severus was staring at the photo album, something he seemed to do a lot of lately. Harry's birthday was coming up in a couple of days and he wanted to get the boy something but obviously couldn't say who it was from. Of course, he didn't have the slightest ides what to get either. He knew so little about his son and that thought depressed him.

Severus turned the page and smiled down at the picture. James must have taken it because it had Lily reading a book to a seven month old Harry Potter.

He eyed the book. Sam and the Seven Faeries.

'Hmm ... Potter likes to read. I could always get him a book,' he thought.

Flipping the page showed James holding onto Harry. He was on a starter broom. Even though James never let Harry go, Severus could see that Harry was having fun.

'Something broom related maybe?' he wondered. He sighed and put the photo album away. It was time to check on his potions.

* * *

"Happy Birthday Harry!"

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," Harry said as he sat down.

"We'll be having you a small party this evening," she said as she put breakfast on the table.

"You don't have to do that Mrs. Weasley. I'm not worth the trouble."

"Nonsense. I also had an owl this morning saying that Remus is coming."

Harry perked up even more. "He is?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded.

"Come on Harry. After breakfast we can help set up the yard."

Harry nodded. He was excited. He never had a birthday party before _and_ Lupin was coming. He had probably talked to Sirius.

"This has been the best day ever," Harry said to Remus as he watched the twins turn Ron's hair purple.

"The best is yet to come. Presents," he said smiling as he pointed to a nearby table.

Harry grinned. When Remus whistled, everyone brought Harry his presents. He made short work of them.

The Weasleys got him some treats and some clothes, most of which were homemade by Mrs. Weasley. Ron, Ginny, and the twins had pooled their money and got him some gloves designed for a seeker, which Harry was thrilled over. Hermione had sent him a wizarding book of puzzles and refill supplies for the broom servicing kit she got for him last year. (She was coming in a couple of weeks.) Neville had sent him a couple of books. One on Ancient Defense and another on Elemental Magic.

"These are good books Harry," said Remus as he looked through them. "What did you send him?"

"I had Hedwig take him a book I saw in one of the Flourish and Blotts catalogues. It had to do with plants. He's a whiz at Herbology."

Remus smiled. "Why couldn't he be here?"

"His grandmother was taking him to visit some family members. I floo'd him to ask this morning after Mrs. Weasley told me that I could."

Remus then handed over 3 presents. Harry looked at him shocked.

"Two of those aren't from me," he whispered. Harry grinned. They must be from Sirius.

He opened Remus' first. "A new cloak!"

Remus nodded. "You're too tall for your other one now." Harry stood up and tried it on.

"Very nice Harry," commented Ginny.

He then reached for the next package. It was a new wand holster for his forearm and a practice snitch. "Wicked," he exclaimed. He immediately put the holster on and placed his wand in it. He tore into the last package eagerly. There was a book and a photo album.

"What book is that?" asked Ron through a mouthful of Harry's cake, causing Ginny to scold him.

"It's a book on seeker techniques." Harry flipped through the book. "It tells _and_ shows how to do the moves." Harry grinned. "I can't wait to start practicing some of these."

He then opened the photo album. It made him suck in a breath. "Remus, what kind of pictures are these?" He had seen wizarding photo's before but not like this.

"These are pictures taken of a memory."

"I don't understand."

"A memory has a way of being viewed and using a special technique, it can be turned into a photograph before being replaced into the mind."

Harry flipped through the album. There were pictures of his mom, his dad, even Remus and Sirius. "Uh ... Remus ... Is that who I think it is?"

Remus chuckled. "It is. They were best friends for many, many years."

"Really?"

Remus nodded.

"I'm surprised that he would put this in here. He seemed to hate him."

"I think that it was his way of saying that your mom stayed open minded about everyone."

Harry closed the album. He would look closer at it later. "Tell him I said thank you."

Remus nodded.

"Come on Harry. Let's practice some of those moves in that book!" exclaimed Ron.

Harry carefully set the album aside and rushed off with Ron.

"It was good of you to come Remus," Molly said as she went to pick up Harry's empty plate.

"I've missed too many of his birthdays as he grew up. I'm going to see what I can do to fix that now."

She nodded. "He told me this morning that he wasn't worth the trouble of a birthday party and from the way he acted today, I don't think he's ever had one."

Remus watched as Harry zoomed around in the air. "He seems happy now."

"He doesn't seem to harbor any hate at all."

"He's a remarkable kid," Remus said.

* * *

"Enter."

Remus entered into Albus' office and took a seat beside of Severus.

"How was the party?" asked Albus.

"It was good. Harry had the time of his life."

"May we view the memory?" asked the Headmaster.

Remus looked at Severus. He saw that the man wanted to see it but didn't want to ask. He nodded. They viewed it above the pensieve instead of diving in.

Afterwards Severus asked, "Do you think it's true? That's he's never had a birthday party before?"

"I didn't ask him but yes. He kept thanking everyone over and over like he couldn't believe they would do this for him."

He saw Severus ball his hands into a fist.

"He was pleased with what you got him, as you saw."

Severus simply nodded.

Albus sighed. It seemed that Severus had clammed back up.

After chatting for a while, Remus took his leave.

"Severus, what's wrong?" asked Albus once Remus had left.

"I couldn't even tell him who it was from. He thinks it was from the mutt."

"He'll know different when you tell him."

"Should I really do that Albus? You saw him in Lupin's memory. The boy is happy."

"But he would be happier with a real family."

"And you think I can be a father to him?" Severus scoffed. "Even if I do tell him, we'll have to hide it. He wouldn't even be able to tell his friends, not while the Dark Lord yet lives."

"Severus, Harry will not be able to return to the Dursley's. I don't say this to threaten you into telling him. I tell you because you need to know."

"Why can he not return to the Dursley's?" snarled Severus.

"Because there were no wards up around the house."

"What?"

"I suspect that Harry has considered Hogwarts his home for a couple of years now. My belief is that they failed because of that."

"Those wards were based on Lily's blood sacrifice. They would have had to been weak in order to fail over something like that."

Albus stood and tinkered with an instrument, opting to stay silent, while silently praying that Severus didn't press the issue about the wards. He still didn't know much as of yet.

"What if he rejects me?"

"Oh, I'm sure he will, at first, but he'll come around, especially when he realizes that he _can_ have a family."

"And the fact that he won't be able to tell anyone?"

"That is something that you will have to work out on your own with him."

"Do you think he's really happy?"

Albus smiled. "I do. He retains an innocence about him. Nothing seems to keep him down, which is remarkable given what he's been through."

Severus sighed. "I'll tell him when school starts." With that said, he left the Headmaster's office.

* * *

A/N: Up next, the Quidditch World Cup. If I keep up with this pace, it should be up tomorrow ... but you never know. hehe. I know that I do have one major thing to fix in the next chapter. I'm about to go do that now, so if all goes well, it should be up tomorrow.

Oh, and before anyone asks, the reason Harry's underage magic detector would go off is because he is the only witch/wizard around for miles. Any magic done in that area, especially close to the Dursley house, would be blamed on Harry (case in point ... Dobby). Now when Mr. Weasley comes and obviously uses magic to get into the Dursley house, it doesn't go off because he had informed the ministry that he was going to pick Harry up. Technically, Harry could get away with magic at the Weasley house because everyone could say one of the adults did it, but the thought never really crosses his mind. The poor muggleborns are all like this. Hermione has the same problem. Those that grow up in a wizarding household do not have the same issue. Of course, if the ministry really wanted to push the issue, all they'd have to do is test their wands, but at the moment, their preparing for other things, like the world cup and the TWT. hehe

*wanders off to fix the next chapter*


	61. Strange Happenings

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 61

* * *

"Harry!"

Harry looked down from where he was flying and saw his bushy haired friend. He quickly landed.

"Hi Hermione!"

She ran and hugged him. "I'm sorry I missed your party."

"It's okay. Thank you for the presents."

They walked inside just as Ron came down the stairs with Ginny.

"I put your trunk in Ginny's room," he said.

"Hey Hermione," Ginny said smiling. "Gonna warn you now. Don't take anything from the twins."

Harry snickered. Ron's hair still had purple streaks in it.

"Everyone go out and enjoy the day," Mrs. Weasley said as she rounded the corner.

"Yes Ma'am," replied Harry. They all scurried out the door.

* * *

"Put me down Wormtail. I must rest."

"Yes Master."

He surveyed the surrounding area. "You fool. We are _not_ in the right place."

"I'm s-s- sorry Master."

"Milk Nagini and help me get settled. We will go to the right place tomorrow," he commanded imperiously.

"Right away master."

"Come Nagini," he hissed.

* * *

Harry suddenly sat straight up in bed. His heart was pounding wildly against his chest and he was drenched in sweat.

He quickly glanced at Ron. Thankfully the red head was still sound asleep.

Harry reached up and felt his scar. It was throbbing and sore. It had felt that way three days prior as well.

Sadly he had woken up the entire Weasley household plus Hermione with his screaming that time. It was really embarrassing, especially since all he could remember was a jet of green light from that dream.

Harry knew that there was no way he'd be able to take a shower without waking anyone so he got up and sat in Ron's window seat after grabbing his journal to record what he remembered of the dream.

Afterwards, he stared at the horizon as the sun rose, meditating on the changing colors.

By the time Ron woke up, Harry felt much better.

* * *

"Hermione, got a question for ya," Harry said as he plopped down beside of her in the grass.

"Yes?" she looked up from a book that she had borrowed from Ginny.

"Have you ever come across anything in a book about seeing glowy things?"

Hermione looked at him funny. "Glowy … things?"

"I see glowy things at people's feet and its driving me nuts. I've gotten some what used to it but I'd still like to know what it is."

"Is it just like a ball of light?"

"No. It's hard to explain but nobody's is the same from what I've seen. Even Fred and George's are different."

"I have no idea what that could be," she said perplexed.

"It's not normal then is it?"

She grimaced. "No."

"Bloody marvelous," he muttered.

"I can look up some things when we get back to Hogwarts," she said way too eagerly.

"Nah. Don't worry about it."

"But Harry -"

"It's okay Hermione. Maybe it's just a temporary thing."

"And if it's not?"

"Then I'll go see Madam Pomphrey about it. I'm sure she'll know what it is."

"You promise?"

"Yes Hermy."

Harry ducked a swat from her. "Don't call me Hermy. I've picked up a thing or two from the twins."

He stuck his tongue out at her. "Can we keep this between us? I don't want anyone else to realize that I'm even more of a freak."

"You're not a freak Harry."

He wasn't able to dodge the smack to his arm that time.

"C'mon you two! We're going to play Disappearing Wizard!"

Hermione and Harry looked at each other then looked up at Ginny who was beckoning them over.

They got up and went to join her. "What's Disappearing Wizard?" whispered Harry.

"Not a clue," she whispered back.

* * *

Severus sipped his glass of red wine.

"It's a shame that you won't be able to join us, Severus."

"I have no time to attend the World Cup," he sneered. "I have orders to fill for my clients."

"How are things at the castle?"

"Quiet, thank Merlin. All those obnoxious brats drive me insane during the school year."

"I don't know why you stay there. I'd have left a long time ago."

"I am right where our Lord ordered me to be."

"Even through the summer months … all these years later?"

Severus nodded.

"What have you heard about the Tri-Wizard Tournament?"

Severus took another sip of his drink. "Thinking of having Draco enter?"

"The thought has crossed my mind. After all, he has still yet to live up to the Malfoy name."

Severus was already aware of the age restriction that was going to be imposed but no one else knew about it yet. "If the cup chooses Draco, make sure that he knows he may come to me for help."

Lucius raised his glass in salute. "How much longer will it be before my ... items are finished?"

"At least another 3 days."

"Good. Good. It'll be ready in plenty of time then."

* * *

Harry raised his wand, pointed it at the muggle and said, "_Avada Kedavra_!" The green light soared through the air and hit the man in the chest.

"Harry, wake up! Wake up!"

Harry opened his eyes to see a blur of red hair standing over him. He turned his head to the opposite side of the bed and vomited.

"Harry! Harry are you alright? Answer me or I'm going to get mom," said the blur of red hair.

"I'm fine. Nightmare," he managed to croak out.

Harry heard the bedroom door open and judging by the gasp, assumed it was Hermione. His assumption was confirmed when a pile of bushy brown hair pushed him back down onto the bed and placed a cloth over his head.

"Honestly you two. I'm alright. Just another nightmare. Please tell me I didn't wake the whole house again."

"I'm afraid you did Harry," said Hermione.

Harry scowled. He really wished he could do magic over the summer. He could have put up his silencing charm.

Suddenly Mrs. Weasley ran in the room. "Oh Harry. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Mrs. Weasley. I just had a nightmare."

She frowned and then "_evanesco_'d" the vomit on the floor, making it vanish.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes ma'am. I'm sorry to have woken everyone again," he said, clearly embarrassed.

Her frowned deepened. "It's alright dear. Try to get some more sleep. If you still feel sick in the morning, let me know."

Harry nodded. When the Weasley matriarch left, Hermione removed the cloth from his forehead. There was blood on it from where his scar was.

"Harry, what was your dream about?" asked Hermione once Mrs. Weasley left the room.

Harry slowly sat up. "Voldemort."

Ron yelped and Hermione hit the red head upside his head.

"He was with Wormtail. They were talking about someone - someone they had killed." Harry strained his memory. "I can't remember who now. They were talking about how they were going to use - argh - use someone to get to me this year. It's hard to remember everything now. When I woke up, Voldemort had used a curse on a man that killed him. It was the same curse that killed my parents."

Hermione's' eyes were as big as saucers and Ron was as pale as a ghost.

"But it was just a dream right?" squeaked out Ron.

Harry desperately hoped so. "Yeah. I guess."

"You have to tell someone Harry. A regular dream shouldn't make your scar bleed."

"I'm fine now Hermione."

"I still say you should write to someone."

"Like who?"

"Professor Dumbledore," said the bushy haired witch immediately.

"I don't want to bother him with a nightmare," huffed Harry.

"You could always write to Sirius," said Ron.

"Of course! I'll do that now. I'm sorry for waking you all up."

"It's alright Harry. Do _try_ to get some more sleep."

Harry watched Hermione walk out of the room. Knowing that there was no way he was going to get any more sleep, he pulled out his journal to record his dream as well as the stuff he would need to write a letter to Sirius.

By the time he was done with both, Ron was snoring.

* * *

Sirius Black was currently looking through some documents that he had managed to get his hands on when a snowy white owl flew into the abandoned warehouse where he was staying.

"Hello Hedwig," he said as he relieved her of her letter.

_August 20, 1994_

Sirius stared at the date then looked up at the owl.

"Hedwig. How _exactly_ did you get to me so fast?" he asked the bird suspiciously. He was at least a three day owl flight away from Harry at the moment, but today was the 21st.

He watched as the owl hooted, obviously pleased with herself. Sirius gave her some scraps. "Get some sleep girl. If it's super important I'll wake you back up."

_August 20, 1994_

_Padfoot,_

_How are you and Buckbeak? Ron, Hermione, and I are doing fine. We've been having a good time. We're all really excited about the World Cup._

_The reason that I'm writing is I'm wondering if you know anything about curse scars. I woke up from a dream with it hurting and bleeding. The dream involved Voldemort and Wormtail._

_The last time it hurt this bad, Voldemort was near me. It's never bled before. I seriously doubt he's near me now so please don't rush back here. If you get caught it will be my fault and I can't lose you._

_Let me know what you can about curse scars._

_I miss you._

_Love,_

_Harry_

Sirius put his head in his hands and rubbed his temples. He let his eyes fall on the documents next to him.

Seemed he had a decision to make.

* * *

Harry had a headache the size of Hogwarts and he swore that it was because of the glowy things. The only person that he had not seen with one was the muggle that Mr. Weasley had paid to rent the camping space.

"Everyone?" whispered Hermione.

"Except the muggle."

"That's really weird Harry."

"I know that," he hissed back.

"Here you go Harry. Headache relieving potion."

"Thank you Mr. Weasley." Harry downed it in one gulp.

"You three go on and have some fun. Just be back by 5pm for dinner before the game."

The trio walked away chatting about everything they were seeing, which included an old man in a woman's dress.

Harry was still laughing when Ron suddenly grabbed his arm and pointed. "Harry! It's Oliver!"

Harry looked up to see Oliver Wood approaching and smiled.

* * *

Harry was running with Ron and Hermione through some trees. He was panicking slightly.

The World Cup had been brilliant. England had won even though Viktor Krum had caught the snitch. The game had lasted about 5 hours. It had been exhilarating.

However Mr. Weasley had frantically woken everyone up around 2 in the morning. There were people running around in robes and masks setting tents on fire and playing with a muggle family.

And to make matters worse, Harry couldn't find his wand.

They stopped and hid themselves among some trees. While they were standing there, watching as the robed figures flew the muggles higher and higher, they heard a small squeaky voice.

Turning towards it, Harry saw Winky struggling while walking. The same glow was beside her now that had been up in the booth.

Harry frowned.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Potty, the Weasel, and the Mudblood."

"Back off Malfoy," said Harry pulling Ron and Hermione behind him, despite the fact that he had no wand.

"Don't you think you should keep moving? Wouldn't want Granger floating about having her knickers shown now would we?"

"Why would they bother me?" huffed Hermione.

"They're after _muggles_ Granger."

"Hermione's a witch," said Harry as he glanced back in the direction of the robed figures. They were slowly heading in their direction.

"Fine. Don't blame me if you get caught though. They _can_ tell a Mudblood when they see one."

Harry frowned. "Let's go guys."

As they walked deeper in the woods, Ron leaned over and whispered, "That sounded like he was warning us - instead of threatening us."

Harry nodded. He had thought so too. Deciding to worry about Malfoy later, they headed further into the woods.

* * *

"That symbol in the air is Voldemort's mark Ron. When someone was killed by Death Eaters, it was placed over the building," said Harry.

Everyone had jumped at Voldemort's name.

Hermione looked at Harry, seemingly surprised. "You read The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts?"

Harry nodded.

"I want to know how that elf got your wand," said Ron.

Harry shrugged. He did too considering he was sure that it had been in his wand holster on his wrist but he wanted to know who had been invisible next to Winky more. Chances are Winky didn't take his wand, but whoever that person had been next to her did.

'Maybe the glowy thing isn't a bad deal after all,' he silently mused. He just wished he knew what it was really called.

Glowy thing lacked a certain flair to it.

"Get into bed kids. We'll head out in the morning."

"Surely he doesn't expect us to sleep," whispered Hermione.

They glanced at Mr. Weasley. He was standing right outside the tent talking to Mr. Bagman and an auror.

"I can't believe how Mr. Crouch treated poor Winky," she said after a minute had passed.

Harry had been appalled too. The way he had treated Winky in front of the others had made him upset.

"Since Mr. Crouch is freeing her, maybe she'll be able to get work somewhere where she can be paid and have time off."

"Paid and time off? House elves don't want paid and time off," said Ron.

"He's right Hermione," said Harry. He wasn't happy with it either but it was something that he had come to terms with over the past 2 ½ years.

"Dobby liked it," said Hermione. "And how would you know?"

"I don't sleep most nights. Since I don't sleep, I spend a lot of nights in the common room. I talk with the castles' house elves all the time when they come to clean. They like their work."

"The castle has house elves?" she shrieked in a whisper.

Harry nodded. "I've asked them if they get money and days off and Ammy looked like she was going to keel over at the prospect of money. Gracie told me that Professor Dumbledore makes them take 2 days off a month but that none of them actually _like_ their days off."

"There's nothing in any of the books about elves at Hogwarts," she said shocked. "And two days off a month is not enough."

"Hermione, every time I talk to the elves and thank them or even offer to help them, they burst into a happy bout of wailing - kinda like Dobby did. They seem genuinely happy working at Hogwarts."

"How do you think we get our food Hermione?"

The trio looked up at the twins. They had clearly been eaves dropping.

"I assumed that there was a human kitchen staff," she said appalled.

"Gred and I have been down to the kitchen loads to ask for food. They love their work."

Whatever Hermione had been about to say next was interrupted by Mr. Weasley.

"To bed you lot. We leave at dawn to go back to the Burrow."

* * *

A/N: Hmm. The update was a couple days later than I planned on it being. Sorry about that. I got my netbook in a few days early and have been trying to set it up the way I want ever since. The normal program that I use to type and edit in isn't on this computer and I can't transfer it over because I can't find the original CD to copy over to a USB storage device. So I'm currently trying to get used to typing in Microsoft Word when I'm used to typing in WordPerfect. It's a bit of a change lol.

Anywho, before anyone asks me what the glowy thing is that Harry keeps on seeing, you'll find out when Harry does. ;-) I imagine a lot of you will figure it out long before he does but shhhh ... don't tell him.

Up next: Some Snape, Sirius, Lord Moldy-Shorts, and Harry ... and not in that order. Next chapter's about as long as this one. If I can find my CD to my original program, I'll have it up in a couple of days ... if not ... well assuming I get used to typing in word (my paragraphs and pages keep resetting strangely) then it should be up in a day or so. If I'm still having issues, then I'm aiming for Monday evening.


	62. Random Worries

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 62

* * *

"He's fine Severus."

"How the hell did Crouch's elf get his wand?"

"I'm not sure Harry even knows how the elf got his wand. What did you get from Lucius?"

"It was indeed him. Well the Dark Mark in the air was not him, but the antics were. Thankfully, he did not let Draco participate. Albus the signs are all around. The Dark Mark in the air and on my arm ... the disappearances."

"I see them too Severus."

"Maybe I shouldn't tell him," Severus muttered. "Not with the indications this clear."

"We both knew that he would be coming back and you agreed that regardless, you would tell him."

"You're sure he's fine?"

"Yes. I talked to Molly this morning. He was out in the garden talking with his friends."

Severus nodded and made to leave the room.

"Severus ..."

"I've not changed my mind Albus. I will still tell him when school starts."

Albus nodded and watched as the man left. Just as he sat back down, an owl flew in through the window.

* * *

Sirius Black was currently in muggle London. He had transfigured his clothes into a business suit and had transfigured parts of his face so that he wouldn't be recognized.

He easily found the house he was looking for and grimaced.

Sirius had hoped to never see this place again as long as he lived but he needed and wanted to be closer to Harry.

"Pleasant day for a stroll isn't it?"

Sirius turned and smiled at the way the elderly man was dressed. It was a _very_ bright purple suit.

"Hello Albus."

"You sure about this?"

He nodded. "I am. By law it's mine. It has stricter wards than most places and it's already unplottable. The only thing missing is the Fidelius Charm."

"Myself as secret keeper right?"

Sirius nodded at the Headmaster.

Albus performed the spells and then handed Sirius a note that read '12 Grimmauld Place, London'.

When Sirius looked up, he saw his house reappear.

Since Sirius was the legal owner of the house, he technically didn't need to be told the Fidelius secret, however, being told made the house easier for him to see.

"Care to venture inside with me?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"What is that smell?" Asked Albus after they had entered the house.

"Traitors! Blood Filth! Scum!"

"Oh shut up mother!" Sirius turned to close the curtains over the portrait of his mother on the wall.

They made their way into the kitchen. "Well at least I won't be bored," he mused. "Kreacher!"

Nothing happened.

"Kreacher!"

And again nothing happened. "I suppose his not answering could explain the smell."

"If you want, I can send you a couple of my own elves over to help. They'll be able to get your shopping done."

"I'd appreciate it. I suppose any dark artifacts I find I can send up to the attic to comb through later. The scrubbing of each room is going to take me ages."

"I'll send my elves over after I talk to them. I'll also have them bring you some food."

"I appreciate it Albus. I appreciate everything."

"We'll find some way to clear you Sirius."

"I hope so for Harry's sake more so than my own."

Albus nodded. He felt like he was in between a rock and a hard place. It was not his place to tell him that Harry was Severus' son.

"Did Buckbeak settle back in with Hagrid alright?"

"He did," nodded Albus. "I need to get back to the castle. If you need anything else, please let me know. The elves will be along within the hour."

Sirius nodded and started using spells to clear away the cobwebs and dust in the kitchen.

* * *

"Everything and everyone is in place my Lord."

"Excellent Wormtail." The creature that was Voldemort looked at the cowering man as he finished milking Nagini. "You have a question?"

Wormtail nodded. "Why go through this elaborate plan? With_ him_ in place, he could turn anything into a port key and bring the boy to us immediately. You could return to your body months sooner."

Voldemort saw the fat rat like man trembling and chuckled (which sounded like an evil hiss). He was surprised that he had the foresight to ask such a question.

"Because when you perform the ritual, I need to have built up a certain amount of personal strength. If we keep up with the mixture of Nagini's venom and unicorn blood, come June, I will be ready."

"Of course My Lord. You are wise as always."

"Leave me for a while Wormtail. I won't need fed for another couple of hours."

Wormtail headed towards his bed in the next room.

* * *

_August 31, 1994_

_Harry,_

_First of all the next time your scar hurts, bleeds, and / or you have another dream, tell Professor Dumbledore right away. He will want to know._

_Now in regards to curse scars, I'm afraid I can't tell you anything. Your scar is one of a kind._

_All this worries me, especially with what happened at the World Cup. It prompted me to come back to the country to be closer to you. Don't worry, I'm well hidden._

_And while I do not anticipate on getting caught, if I do it will __not__ be your fault. Get that out of your head this instant._

_I want to hear about anything strange happening. Keep your eyes open and trust your instincts._

_Have a good start of term and enjoy the festivities this year._

_Love,_

_Padfoot_

_PS Use a different owl that way Hedwig can't be tracked._

CRACK!

Harry looked over bemusedly at the glass in the door of the Hogwarts train. It was cracked.

"Honestly Harry. You need to keep your temper under control. _Reparo_." Hermione said as she waved her wand at the glass.

Harry watched it repair itself. It was the first bit of accidental magic he had done in a couple of months - which was a vast improvement.

"What's up mate?" asked Ron.

"Sirius is back," hissed Harry. He handed the letter over to Ron and Hermione.

"I'm sure he's safe," said Hermione as she read it.

"Festivities?" asked Ron.

Harry shrugged.

The door to their compartment opened. "Anything off the Trolley dears?"

Harry nodded. He bought each of them some chocolate frogs. As he turned to close the door, he saw Cho Chang approach the trolley.

Harry smiled and fled back into the compartment.

Ron looked at him like he was crazy.

* * *

Severus was pacing the staff room nervously.

"Severus what is the matter with you?" asked Minerva. She had never seen him like this before.

"Nothing," he snapped.

"Don't you get grumpy with me Severus Snape," she snapped back.

Severus sighed. "I apologize Minerva. I just have a lot on my mind."

Albus cleared his throat. He was fully aware of why Severus was pacing and thought it better to rescue him before a duel erupted during the staff meeting, which sadly would not be a first.

"Let's get this started so we can head to the Great Hall."

* * *

Harry and his year mates were talking animatedly during dinner about the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the arrival of Mad-Eye Moody. (He had arrived during Dumbledore's speech.)

Harry suddenly felt someone staring at him. He looked up and saw that it was Moody. He frowned. Moody was the only one in the Great Hall that didn't have a glowy thing.

That was odd.

"Are you going to find a way to enter Harry?"

Harry focused on Seamus. "Nah. I just want a nice, quiet year."

Everyone chuckled. "Good luck with that," said Dean.

That night, before Harry retired to bed, he replied to Sirius' letter.

* * *

Severus was exhausted. He had just returned from taking his first years to their first check up with Madam Pomphrey. Just as he reached his quarter's he was brought up short by someone standing at his door.

"Moody," sneered Severus.

"Snape. Just where have you been?"

"Why do you care where I've been?"

"Because it's my job to care."

"You are not my keeper. Now remove yourself from in front of my quarters before I remove you _my_self."

"I'd like to see you try."

Severus drew his wand and pointed it at Moody.

Moody merely laughed and limped away. "I'll be watching you Snape."

Severus entered his quarters.

'Man has really gotten paranoid,' he thought as he removed his outer robes.

* * *

A/N: Moody's lack of a glowy thing will be explained later. This chapter addresses a couple of my pet peeves from the books. If Sirius had a house, why did he not move into it sooner than Harry's 5th year. Yes, he hated seeing it but at least he doesn't have to live out in the open anymore. It also addresses the fact that since 'everyone was in place', why didn't the imposter take Harry sooner. Hopefully everyone is happy with the explanation that I have given (though I will say that Lord Moldy-Shorts does elaborate on it later in another chapter).

The next chapter is longer and poor Harry is going to be getting a lot of detention. Oh ... and him and Malfoy have an almost civil conversation. *grin*

A/N: For those that asked me about how I'm doing with my typing program, I think I have it mostly sorted out. At least for a little while anyway. I'm using a trial version of the newest WordPerfect that's out until I can find my CD to install the non-trial version on my netbook. I gave up on word. It kept resetting my paragraphs and pages and overall making me insane. LOL I hope to have the next chapter out by either late Monday night or sometime on Tuesday. =)

A/N: Now, for the other regular warnings. This story will stick to the main plot line of the Goblet of Fire book, and some quotes are from the book directly. However, every once in a while, a scene or two from the movie may sneak in. (All that of course aside from the fact that a lot of scenes from my own mind are sneaking in as well - evil cackle!) Quite a bit of what's written in the Goblet of Fire will change to suit my whims for my own story! Don't hate me! (Evil smirk!)


	63. Schedules, Detentions, and Ferrets

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

* * *

Chapter 63

* * *

Harry looked down at his schedule and grimaced. "One of you want to tell me what I was thinking by not dropping Divination?"

Ron and Hermione both looked over Harry's shoulder at the schedule in his hands.

**Monday:** Herbology (H), Free Period, CoMC (S), Ancient Runes (Ra), Divination (H), Divination (H)

**Tuesday:** History of Magic (Ra), Transfiguration (G), Transfiguration (G), Astronomy (G), Potions (S), Potions (S)

**Wednesday:** Herbology (H), DADA (H), DADA (H), Transfiguration (G), Charms (Ra), Charms (Ra)

**Thursday:** History of Magic (Ra), Free Period, Ancient Runes (Ra), Transfiguration (G), Potions (S), Potions (S)

**Friday:** Herbology (H), Charms (Ra), CoMC (S), Astronomy (G), DADA (H), DADA (H)

"You will not leave me in that tower alone with her," said Ron.

Harry laughed while he glanced at Ron and Hermione's schedule. Ron had two more free periods but Hermione didn't have any. He just shook his head. She was going to drive herself crazy again.

On the way out of the Great Hall to head to the dorms, Harry ran into a girl with long dark hair rushing in.

"Sorry," he said as he disentangled himself from her.

"It's alright," he heard her mutter.

"C'mon Harry."

Harry smiled at the girl again then ran off to catch up with Ron and Hermione who had already started walking away. He had thought the girl was pretty and for some reason felt his cheeks heat up.

"Who was that?" asked Ron.

Harry shrugged hoping that Ron didn't notice the color in his cheeks.

Hermione just snickered. Boys were so clueless.

* * *

Sirius had just finished thoroughly cleaning the kitchen when an owl flew in. He took the letter, found some left over lunch to feed the bird, and then opened it.

_Padfoot,_

_Please don't come back. I don't want you to get caught. I was half asleep when I wrote you last time so I probably just imagined my scar hurting._

_With the Tri-Wizard Tournament announced, I imagine security is going to be increased again. It worries me. I want you to be safe._

_Love,_

_Harry_

Sirius just sighed at the letter.

* * *

"And there has only ever been _one_ survivor of the killing curse and he is sitting in this very room."

Harry's face was pale because everyone had turned to look at him. He just wanted to sink to the floor. He didn't remember much else of the class.

Afterwards, they returned to the dorms to get rid of their books.

"C'mon Harry. Let's go eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"You sure?" asked Ron. Evidently the thought of not being hungry seemed scandalous to him.

"Yeah."

"I'll bring you back some treacle tart anyway."

Harry simply nodded.

Once Ron and his other dorm mates were gone, Harry ensconced himself behind the curtains of his bed.

'So that's how my parents died,' thought Harry. 'At least it wasn't painful.' He took some solace in that.

He remembered his dreams from the summer. Voldemort had used that curse on the old man. The thought of it made him sick.

Harry was so lost in his musings, he never realized that Neville had returned from dinner.

After around 30 minutes, he sat at his desk to begin his homework - anything to occupy his mind.

"That you Harry?"

Harry startled. "Neville, you scared the crap outta me. I didn't hear you come in."

Neville chuckled. "Sorry. At least you didn't blow anything up this time."

Harry laughed. "What did Moody want with you after class?"

Neville pulled the curtains back from around his bed. His ears had turned pink. "Professor Sprout told Professor Moody that I was good at Herbology so he leant me a book on Mediterranean Plants."

Harry smiled. That was something that Lupin would have done.

* * *

Severus internally frowned.

Potter wasn't at dinner. He had looked fine at breakfast and lunch.

Just as he took a bite of his food, Moody sat down next to him. Severus downed it with a drink of water and excused himself.

He felt Moody's eyes on him as he swooped out of the Great Hall.

* * *

Harry woke up early on Saturday. He scowled because he was wide awake. Why was it impossible for him to sleep late like a normal teenage boy? After showering, he headed to the library. His homework was already finished but he wanted to see if he could figure out what the glowy thing was.

It was driving him up the wall.

About an hour into his search, he heard a noise. Turning around he saw Malfoy.

"Well. If it isn't scar head himself."

"What do you want Malfoy?"

"I don't have to explain myself to my inferiors," he said haughtily.

Harry just rolled his eyes.

"I heard you got ill when Moody showed you the killing curse Potty. The truth make you sick?"

Harry took a deep, calming breath. He would not rise to Malfoy's bait. "Did you get out of bed at 7 am on a Saturday just to annoy me?"

"Contrary to popular belief, the world does not revolve around you."

"Contrary to popular belief, I do not like the attention that I keep getting."

"Really Potter. You should be using your fame to your advantage, especially with the ladies." To Harry's horror, Malfoy wiggled his eyebrows. "And to answer your question, I imagine I'm doing the same thing you are."

Harry snorted. "I doubt that."

"So you're _not_ looking for a way to enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament?"

"Definitely not. I just said that I hated the attention. Why would I enter something that would just attract it?"

Malfoy shrugged. "Then what are you doing?"

"Looking for some bed time reading."

"Right. Keep your secrets Potty. See if I care."

Harry then watched as Malfoy walked away. He shook his head. That had been an almost civil conversation.

Putting Malfoy out of his mind, he resumed his search through the bookshelves.

* * *

"This year you will be writing three essays instead of the normal two."

The entire Gryffindor and Slytherin potions class groaned as one. They had all noticed an increase in their school work so far and an entire full week of classes hadn't even passed yet.

"Today I will be lecturing on the many ways to detect poisons and how to identify one. On Thursday we will brew a basic identifying potion."

After Severus was done lecturing and had assigned his essays, the class whispered quietly for the last two minutes until they could leave.

Suddenly there was a loud crash behind Potter's head.

"Potter! What do you think you're doing? Detention. Tonight after dinner."

"But sir, I didn't do it," protested Harry. The Slytherins were snickering.

"Trying for two days Potter?"

Harry huffed. "No sir."

As they were leaving class, Hermione whispered, "Harry, you really need to control your temper better."

Harry glared. "I honestly didn't do it Hermione."

"Oh. Sorry."

His expression softened. "It's alright. I did actually double check myself to make sure when the jar broke. Merlin knows it's not the first thing I've made break."

Ron laughed.

* * *

Severus eyed the clock in his classroom. It was almost time for his detention with Potter to start. He cleared his mind and calmed his racing heart.

When Potter arrived he pointed to the cauldrons in the corner of the room. "You have two hours to clean those. Get started."

"Yes sir," muttered Harry.

As Harry was cleaning his 6th cauldron he felt the air around him change. It was really strange. He casually looked around the room and didn't see anyone other than Snape and he was grading papers.

Thinking he was just being paranoid, he resumed his cleaning.

On the 8th cauldron, Harry was positive that there was someone else in the room but since there was no extra glowy thing, he could only assume it was Moody.

He felt a sense of dread wash over him but surely Moody wouldn't hurt him. _'Though he wouldn't be the first defense professor to do so,_' a voice in the back of his head said before he could stop it.

Frowning, he returned to his task, more than a little on edge.

* * *

"These aren't nearly clean enough Potter. Redo them," Snape said as Harry was almost done.

Harry growled. "Sir, they're spotless."

"Re-do them. Now Potter."

"Yes, sir."

Severus had been about to shut the class room door and garner Potter's attention when he felt his wards go off. There was someone else present.

As he picked up a new stack of papers to grade, he saw Potter look around the room.

That was interesting. It seemed Potter knew that they were no longer alone too.

Near the end of Potter's detention time, Severus got up to examine the cauldrons. They were spotless but since he had an audience - he had a reputation to uphold.

Around 10pm, Harry was done. "I'm finished sir."

"Merely passable Potter. Go on back to your dorms."

Harry put away the cleaning supplies, grabbed his things and left. He didn't like the feeling he was getting from the invisible Moody.

It creeped him out.

* * *

Harry was going cross eyed while looking at his ancient runes book. They were currently studying Egyptian Hieroglyph's and for the life of him, he could not figure out the difference between the two glyphs in front of him.

An owl took that opportunity and flew into the common room and landed in front of him. Harry grinned. It was a letter from Sirius.

_Harry,_

_I assure you that I'm well hidden. Don't worry about me. I'm the grown up. Let me worry about you instead._

_How are your classes going so far? What all are you taking? James didn't like to take a lot of classes because it interfered with Quidditch. He took just enough to become an auror._

_Your mother, on the other hand, was a total bookworm. She used to take everything that would fit in her schedule._

_I imagine you're disappointed that they canceled Quidditch for the Tournament but I think you'll have fun watching it._

_I read in the paper that Albus got Mad Eye Moody out of retirement. He must be seeing the same signs that I am. Watch yourself - especially around the Slytherin's. They can't be trusted. Never go anywhere alone._

_Remember to go to Albus if your dreams return. Write to me if you need me for anything._

_Love,_

_Padfoot_

Harry frowned. Not all Slytherins were bad and it wasn't _just_ the Slytherins. Sirius _should_ know that. Pettigrew had been in Gryffindor after all. He couldn't help but think of the picture in the photo album of his mom and Snape laughing over something. (He had long gotten over the shock of Snape laughing - though it had taken about three days to do so.) His mother obviously had not been prejudiced against the other houses, he didn't think he should be either.

Harry excused himself (anything to get away from Hermione's Elf Liberation ramblings and his Ancient Runes homework) to head up to the dorm rooms so he could send a reply.

He just hoped that he wouldn't upset his godfather with what he had to say.

* * *

"You will be preparing ingredients for your detention. You have two hours. You better get started."

"Yes sir," muttered Harry. This was his 7th detention with Snape in three weeks. It was like the man had a vendetta against him these days.

After rolling up his sleeves, Harry started dissecting the eel to harvest body parts. The entire time he felt Snape's eyes on him and even heard him clear his throat as if he wanted to say something but never did.

Severus watched as Potter carefully harvested the organs. Even though most students cringed at this type of detention, he wasn't even blinking.

He cleared his throat to get Potter's attention but when the boy turned around, he couldn't do it, so he conjured a glass of water instead and took a drink.

Twenty minutes later he tried again and again he balked.

"I'm finished Professor."

Snape got up to check each item over carefully. "Well done Potter."

At Potter's incredulous look, he sneered and sent him on his way.

Severus then returned to his desk. He couldn't do it. He couldn't tell Potter that he was the boy's father. He simply groaned. He would have to try again. Surely it couldn't be that hard to say, 'Harry, I'm your father'.

But clearly it was since he'd been unable to say it.

* * *

"Professor Snape, Professor Moody turned me into a ferret," burst out Draco Malfoy as Moody led him into his office.

"Be quiet boy," snapped Moody.

"What did you do Moody?" asked Severus incredulously.

"Nothing the boy didn't deserve, I assure you."

"Sir!" squeaked out Malfoy.

Moody trained his magical eye on Draco, who quivered in his chair.

"He tried attacking a student who's back was turned on him."

"So you turned him into a ferret?" asked Snape disbelievingly. "Surely you remember that Transfiguration isn't allowed on a student."

Moody grinned. "So Minerva reminded me. Rest assured that I'll be keeping an eye on Malfoy along with you Snape."

Severus watched Moody leave. "Who did you try to attack Draco?"

"Potter sir."

"Why?'

"Because he insulted my mother," pouted Draco.

Severus sighed. He was getting a headache. "Draco you need to be more discreet, especially with Moody lurking around. Chances are Potter tried to bait you on purpose. Ignore him next time."

Draco scowled. "Yes sir."

"Oh, and Draco, your potions essays were excellent. I'll be writing to your father about your quality work."

Severus watched the blonde glide out of the room in a better mood.

* * *

A/N: I've given up on the table issue that fanfiction has. The schedules will start looking like this. If you want to see how the time plays out, hopefully you don't mind going back to a previous chapter where I have it listed. The (S), (H), (G), and (Ra) next to each class is who it is shared with. For those with only the (G), that means that it's a Gryffindor only class. =)

A/N: So ... how was that for an almost civil conversation between Draco and Harry? hehe Up next, well, I'm not sure what all I'm going to include. If I leave the upcoming chapter the way it is now, it'll take us right up until the end of October. It's really long. I'm debating on breaking it up into two chapters. I'll decide what I'm going to do with it over the next couple of days. Anyway, some things that I know are going to appear in the next chapter include Sirius throwing a hissy fit and Harry getting a lecture on proper behavior by Professor Sprout. ;-)


	64. Half Truths and Arrivals

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. I just like to play with them. =)

* * *

Chapter 64

* * *

_Remus,_

_I need to borrow your presence as soon as possible._

_Padfoot_

Remus sighed. Sirius was obviously upset about something judging from the terseness of the letter. After locking his house up, he apparated to the front step of Grimmauld Place. (Albus had informed him of the address a couple of days after the charm had been put in place.)

"Traitor! Filth! Scum of the Earth! Half-Breed!"

Remus scowled. Evidently Sirius hadn't found out a way to shut the portrait up yet. He closed the curtains around her and headed to the kitchen.

"Wow Sirius. The first floor looks incredible. I certainly don't remember you being this good with house hold spells when we all lived together," he said blandly.

"Read this," Sirius said handing over a letter, ignoring the jest that Remus had just sent towards him.

Remus sat down at the table and opened the letter.

_Padfoot,_

_My classes are okay. The teachers are really piling on the work this year. Between homework and detention, I stay pretty busy._

_I'm taking all of the normal classes plus Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Ancient Runes. I have two free periods so I imagine I'm somewhere in between my mom and dad._

_I was disappointed that they canceled Quidditch. I was looking forward to practicing those moves in the book you gave me and showing off some but that will have to wait until next year. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the tournament. I've read up on it. It sounds like it will be a blast to watch._

_Professor Moody is weird. I get all kinds of strange vibes from him but he really knows his stuff. I can proudly report that I can throw off the imperious curse. I was the only one able to do so. Of course, this probably makes me even more of a freak than I already am but I can see how throwing that curse off can come in handy._

_I've not had anymore dreams, at least any that make my scar hurt._

_Something you said in your letter bothers me but I'm afraid to make you upset. I don't want you to be mad at me. I don't want to lose you, so please don't be upset._

_You told me to watch myself around the Slytherins but not all Slytherins are bad. My mom must not have thought so with her being friends with Snape for so long. Remus said that you included that picture of mom and Snape because you wanted to show me that she was open minded. Don't you want me to be like her?_

_I love you Padfoot and I don't want you to be mad at me. You're really the only family I have left._

_I hope that where ever you are, you're safe. I miss you._

_Love,_

_Harry_

Remus rubbed his temples. This looked to be an interesting conversation. Now he knew what Albus meant by being in between a rock and a hard place in regards to Severus and Sirius.

"I didn't get him any book or photo album and I _certainly_ wouldn't have put a picture of Snape and Lily in it if I had," said Sirius as he paced around the room once he was sure Remus had read the letter.

"Calm down Sirius. Albus gave me the book and album to give to Harry (which technically was true - Albus did hand it to him). He can't be seen giving presents to students because it shows favoritism. I just let Harry think you sent them."

"Why in the hell would Albus include a picture of Snivellus with Lily though? That man can't be trusted. He was a Death Eater for crying out loud!"

"Sirius, while you were imprisoned, you missed the trial of Severus. He was a spy for our side for a couple of years before Voldemort was defeated. I've told you this before."

"I still say that the man can't be trusted. Harry should be warned."

"NO!"

Sirius looked up - shocked by the sudden outburst.

"No." Remus repeated in a quieter tone. "You will not say anything to him of Snape's past. Let Harry form his own opinion of people."

"But the Slytherins can't be trusted."

Remus sighed. "Sirius, not all Slytherins are evil. You're biased because of how you were raised."

Seeing that Sirius only got more upset, Remus realized that he needed a different approach to explain things.

* * *

"Severus, it's been a month. The longer you wait to tell him, the harder it's going to be."

"I've tried Albus. I've been putting him in detention so that I _can_ tell him, but when it comes time to do so, I can't."

"So Minerva tells me. She was complaining about how many detentions you seem to be giving him."

Severus glared at the Headmaster. "How do you propose I tell him then? Just out right blurt it? I'm not a rash Gryffindor."

"Telling the truth has nothing to do with being a Gryffindor. Just sit him down and tell him."

Severus sighed, but nodded. "Is there any way to get Moody to back off of lurking down in the dungeons? He's scaring my students half to death."

* * *

Harry and Susan Bones (a Hufflepuff) were currently laughing at the Siren plant and the fact that each of them were covered in soil, although Harry more so than Susan.

Professor Sprout had assigned their class a project after she had paired them up. Each pair had a different plant to learn about and make a presentation to the class in two weeks time.

It hadn't taken them long to realize that it was a Siren plant but then the plant became mad when it realized that Harry was unaffected by its singing (if it could be called that) and tossed soil at him and Susan.

"Why isn't it mad at you?" asked Harry as he brushed dirt off of himself again.

Susan grinned. "The book says that females aren't affected by its singing. Professor Sprout probably wanted me to work on this with you so that I could snap you out of your trance. Evidently neither her, nor the plant, counted on you being immune to it."

Harry looked at the plant. "It's not my fault you know."

Susan laughed even more.

"What type of soil does the book say it likes?" asked Harry as he wiped some dirt off of his glasses.

"Midnight soil but in order for it to be really happy, it likes to have mermaid scales grinded up and mixed in with it."

"Where are we going to get mermaid scales?"

"Not a clue."

"Well I definitely want this plant happy because it's going to get annoying if I get dirt thrown at me every time I get near it."

"I think it's funny."

'Oh, you do huh?" Harry grinned slyly as he picked up a clump of the soil that had fallen off of him and threw it at her.

"ACK!"

Unfortunately, Professor Sprout rounded the corner at that moment and saw what he had done.

"Mister Potter!"

As Harry got a lecture about proper behavior he could have sworn that the plant was laughing at him.

* * *

Harry wandered through the tunnel, letting his wand light fill up the surrounding darkness.

Left.

Right.

Straight.

Left.

A noise behind him made him turn around. Not seeing anything, he kept walking.

"Harry!"

Harry looked around again.

"Harry, wake up!"

Wake up? He wasn't asleep.

Suddenly a bucket of cold water hit him. He jumped out of the bed. He glared when he saw that his dorm mates plus Hermione were laughing at him.

"Come on. It's a Hogsmeade weekend."

Harry scowled. After he discreetly removed the silencing charm from himself, he headed off towards the showers.

On his way out of the door, he sent two ticking hexes at Ron and Hermione. If he had his way, he'd get them again later when neither were expecting it.

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were chatting quietly in the Three Broomsticks when Ron left to go to the loo.

"Did you ever figure out your problem?"

Knowing that she was talking about the glowy things, he shook his head.

"Didn't you go to Madam Pomphrey?"

"Nope."

"Harry, you said that you would."

"I've been trying to figure it out on my own. I don't want to bother her with something like this."

"What if it's serious?"

"It's not hurting me or anyone else. It's just something that's there. I've actually learned to ignore it."

They saw Ron coming back to the table. "Go see her Harry or I will."

Unfortunately Harry couldn't reply because Ron sat back down at the table.

* * *

Harry was serving what felt like his thousandth detention with Snape - though this one he deserved.

While Snape had been yelling at Neville and Lavender, Malfoy had thrown a scarab beetle in Harry's potion, which ruined it. Harry had retaliated successfully, in turn ruining Malfoy's potion as well.

But Snape had caught him.

"Potter ... Harry."

Startled by the use of his first name, Harry looked up. Snape had _never_ called him by his first name before.

"Have a seat. I need to talk to you about something important."

Completely bewildered, he sat down. Snape looked nervous. He had _never_ seen the man look nervous either.

About two minutes of uncomfortable silence had passed when he spoke again. "I am aware that you know your mother and I were very good friends during our time here at Hogwarts. In fact, I knew her before both of us came to Hogwarts. We grew up about 4 houses apart."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise.

"When we were six, I saw your mother make a flower bloom using magic on the neighborhood playground. That's how I knew that she was a witch, that she was like me."

"She could control things like that when she was six?" asked Harry shocked.

Severus smiled faintly. "Oh yes. She was very talented and quite powerful too. I told her all about what would happen when she turned eleven, and we were both very excited because of it." He paused briefly, as if he was remembering. "We were practically inseparable as we grew -"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"-up."

Harry started and turned towards the door. He heard the door knob twist but saw that the door didn't open. Snape muttered a curse. "Get back to the cauldrons. Quickly."

He done as he was told.

Snape then flicked his wand at the door, which allowed it to open. Malfoy burst into the room.

"Sir! Goyle had to go to the infirmary. Madam Pomphrey sent me to get you. She said she's not sure how to reverse the curse."

Snape turned towards Harry. "Potter, those cauldrons had better be clean when I return or I'll put you with Filch for a week."

Harry was utterly confused but muttered, "yes sir".

'What in the name of Merlin had Snape been about to tell me?' he wondered. Frowning, he reached for the dragon hide gloves to put back on. 'Maybe the man would try again.' He hoped that he would because now he was seriously curious, and he wanted to know more about his mother. Everyone always talked about his father. No one ever really talked to him about his mother.

* * *

Severus walked into the infirmary to see Goyle with a pair of Fairy Wings and a set of horns. He raised an eyebrow at him.

"Gryffindors," he spat.

As he helped Madam Pomphrey reverse the hex, he just shook his head. He had finally gotten enough courage up to tell Potter the truth and then this happened.

"Which Gryffindor done this Mr. Goyle?"

"The Creevey brothers."

Severus just shook his head in disgust.

* * *

_October 26, 1994_

_Snape has turned weird. He actually started to tell me something about him and my mom tonight during detention._

_It makes me wonder what he would have said if Malfoy hadn't come banging on the door._

_I wonder if that was an open invitation to talk to him about her._

_The other schools that are competing in the Tri-Wizard Tournament are coming on Friday. I'm really excited to see what all the contestants are going to have to do._

_And I'm eternally grateful that I can't participate. For once I am just going to enjoy things from the side lines._

_-Harry_

* * *

On October 25th, classes were cut short because the other schools were about to arrive.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran back down to the entrance hall after having deposited their books in the dorm.

They had been speculating about the Tournament for weeks now and the excitement was at an all time high.

"Flatten your hair Potter," McGonagall snapped.

Harry whispered to Ron as he tried to flatten it. "Of all the things to get from my dad, it had to be the messy hair."

"At least you got your Quidditch skills from him ... unless your mom could fly too?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know much about her other than she was good in charms and potions. No one ever mentioned her flying."

"Potions?" asked Ron. He looked like he would be sick.

"Silence!" yelled Dumbledore, which saved Harry from responding.

Everyone turned to look at the Headmaster.

"Now, I expect you all to be on your best behavior and no matter who wins in the end, I want everyone to show true sportsmanship. I also want everyone to be very welcoming to our guests."

* * *

Snape had heard Potters comment about his messy hair then the comment about his flying.

It did raise the question. Where did his flying talent come from? Lily had been an okay flyer and Severus was good on a broom but had not had Potters talent in school.

Was it possible that the potion and the blood adoption affected more than his appearance genes? The blood adoption in general would have given him some of James traits but still ... to be as good as he is on a broom ...

He would have to do even more research on the subject. Maybe Lupin had figured out which blood adoption spell was used. Only he could forget something that important.

Severus was brought out of his musings by the youngest Creevey yelling, "It's a flying house!"

* * *

Harry watched Ron with amusement during dinner. He was staring - blatantly staring - at the girls from Beauxbatons Academy (even Victor Krum didn't keep his attention). Harry, himself, found them attractive but didn't seem to be as possessed as most of his classmates.

"She's a veela," hissed Ron suddenly.

"Don't be ridiculous Ronald. No one else is acting like an idiot," said Hermione scathingly.

'Clearly she's not looked around the room," thought Harry with amusement.

* * *

"Severus."

"Igor," sneered Snape.

"How are you my old friend?"

"Well. I see you are doing alright with yourself," spat out the potions master.

Dumbledore stood up which interrupted Karkaroff's response.

"Welcome! Welcome guests to Hogwarts! Let's discuss this tournament before we eat our marvelous feast. First of all, the judge for the entries will be placed in the hall on October 30th at 6pm and will be removed on October 31st at 6pm. The participants will be chosen at that time.

"For safety reasons, as I have mentioned before, no one under 17 will be allowed to enter."

Boos could, once again, be heard on this reminder.

"Eternal glory, eternal fame, and 1000 galleons in prize money is what awaits the winner of this tournament but we're all here for another reason as well.

"To make new friends and allies. To form new bonds. I encourage all the schools to mingle in the evenings during their free time. Get to know one another. Now, before my staff strangles me for rambling, enjoy your meal."

The food appeared on everyone's table.

Severus watched from across the room as Karkaroff and Potter collided in the doorway.

He couldn't hear what was said but couldn't help but chuckle when Karkaroff fled at having saw Moody. (After all, during the first war, Moody had been the one to catch him.)

That reminded him. Where had Moody been during dinner? The man was acting even more paranoid than normal.

He told himself that he would keep a discreet eye on him.

* * *

"This should be good," said Harry to Ron and Hermione.

"Yeah," agreed Ron.

"And for once, I'm going to have a quiet year," he muttered.

Hermione grinned at him.

* * *

Severus had managed to avoid Karkaroff until dinner on the day the champions were to be chosen.

The man had then put himself in the chair beside of his. Moody then sat on Karkaroff's other side.

"It's time now for the Goblet of Fire to choose this years Tri-Wizard Champions!" announced Albus clearly.

Severus watched along with the rest of the students as the fire in the goblet went from red to green then shot out a piece of paper.

He watched Albus catch it easily.

"The Champion from Beauxbaton Academy is Fleur Delacour."

Severus watched as the girl got up from the Ravenclaw table and headed off to a side room. He clapped along with everyone else.

"The Champion from Durmstrang is Victor Krum."

"Yeah Victor! I knew you had it in you!" shouted Karkaroff like some school girl.

Severus resisted the eye roll he wanted to do.

"The Hogwarts Champion is Cedric Diggory."

Severus raised an eyebrow. 'A Hufflepuff?' he wondered.

"Now. I want everyone to show support for their champions and ..."

Severus saw why Albus had stopped speaking. The Goblets flame had changed from red to green again, indicating that it was going to throw out another name. When it did, it suddenly became very hard for him to breathe because his gut told him what was going to be on that paper, but should have been impossible.

"Harry Potter."

Severus' eyes automatically went to where his son was sitting with his friends and the look on the boys face reflected how he felt himself.

Absolute shock and horror.

* * *

A/N: As you can see, Snape got closer in telling Harry the truth. That's worth something ... right? Right? *hides behind something to avoid things being thrown at me* Anyway, at the end of the last chapter I said that I might break up the chapter because of the length. I didn't need to. There had been something that didn't sit well with me in it so I moved it to a future chapter and it worked out great. It just cut this one shorter but not by much. Anywho, up next, a shocking revelation comes to light. ;-) I should have it up in a day or so. =)


	65. Surprising Revelations

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. I just like to play with them. =)

* * *

Chapter 65

* * *

After Albus dismissed the students, Severus saw him turn with a grimace on his face. He motioned for everyone to follow him.

They entered the side room to find Potter looking extremely out of place across the room from the older kids. Albus headed straight towards where Potter was standing. The boy looked like he was trying to become invisible.

"Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet?"

"No!"

"Did you ask one of the older kids to put your name in the Goblet?"

"No!"

Severus used subtle legilimency on the boy from across the room. He was surprised when Potters' eyes darted to him, as if he could feel it. 'Well that's certainly new,' he mused.

"But of course ze boy is lying," Madam Maxime said.

"I do not believe that Harry put his name in the Goblet," said Albus after searching Harry's gaze.

"He had to have done so," spat out Karkaroff. "Your age line must have failed."

"Do not blame this fiasco on the Headmaster. Potter has been breaking the rules ever since he first arrived."

"Severus," scolded Albus.

Severus sighed. Evidently old habits died hard.

He tuned most of the squabbling out and watched as Harry tried to shrink into the shadows in the room while everyone argued about the situation. There was no confidence on the boy's face, just pure terror. He honestly had not put his name in the Goblet of Fire. After 30 minutes of talking and yelling had passed, the Headmaster told the students to leave. Harry was looking exceedingly pale as he headed out of the door.

* * *

"I didn't do it!" shouted Harry.

"I don't know why you're not admitting the truth to me. I'm your best friend. I won't rat you out."

"Ron. Listen to yourself. You know that I hate the fame that comes with being me. I don't want this attention and I sure as hell don't want any glory."

"Then you shouldn't have put your name in the Goblet of Fire. You're rarely in your bed at night. I always figured you just went down to the common room. I'm sure it wouldn't have been hard to sneak down to the Great Hall last night after curfew."

"I did _not_ put my name in the Goblet!" The window exploded behind Harry's head as a token of how angry he really was. "How many times do I need to tell you that to get it through that thick skull of yours?"

"Thick am I? Too stupid to be Harry Potter's friend? Well I'm through. You should just go and join the Slytherins, where the hat wanted to put you to start with. You're obviously sneaky enough to get by Dumbledore's age line. Who knows what else your capable of?"

Before Harry could reply, Ron stormed out of the dorm room - slamming the door behind him.

Harry then threw himself onto his bed, put a silencing charm on himself, and screamed for all he was worth.

Unbeknownst to both of them, the Gryffindors' downstairs had heard their argument, much to their disbelief.

* * *

"Absolutely not. Find some loop hole. I want him out of this tournament."

"Severus, when someone put his name in the Goblet, it formed a magical contract. He can't back out of it now. There would have been a way to pull him from the tournament had it not been in his handwriting, but since it is his signature, he will have to see this thing through."

"Albus, people die in these things. I will _not_ let him die. I've not even been able to tell him yet. I don't know if I should now," he added in a whisper.

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Because he will need to focus on these tasks."

Albus sighed. "I don't know Severus. He may be able to draw the strength he needs from you in order to compete."

"Or the truth will devastate him so badly that he get's distracted and gets himself killed anyway. No. Not until we find out with certainty how his name got in that Goblet. For all we know the Dark Lord had this arranged. For all of Moody's paranoia, he may be right in that whoever put Harry's name into the Goblet does want him dead."

"Very well. Until we find out how Harry's name got into the Goblet, I won't pressure you but soon afterwards you need to tell him."

Severus nodded.

* * *

Tuesday dawned bright. Harry knew this because he had not been to bed.

"Harry, have you slept any?"

He looked up to see Hermione staring at him - her eyes full of concern.

Harry shook his head no.

"You can't go to class on no sleep."

"I'll be fine. I've done it before. I don't feel like going to breakfast though."

Hermione frowned. "Go get ready. I'll run down and get you some toast and meet you in Binns' classroom."

He nodded but as he went to stand, she grabbed his arm to stop him. "Harry, you should know that all of Gryffindor heard your argument with Ron last night. They heard him say that the sorting hat wanted to put you in Slytherin."

"Bloody marvelous," Harry muttered. Resigned to the fact that it was going to be a long day, he headed off to the showers. After he was dressed, he looked in the mirror and frowned.

He looked like he had been run over by a herd of hippogriffs.

He quickly applied a glamour to hide the dark circles under his eyes and went to meet Hermione.

"Have you written to Padfoot?" she whispered once they were seated in the classroom.

"What? No! He'd probably come crashing in through the front door if he found out," said Harry shocked.

"Harry, he's going to find out anyway. This tournament is famous ... and so are you. I'm sure he'd rather hear about it from you instead of reading about it though."

Harry sighed. She was right. "I'll send him a letter in between classes. Have you seen Ron?"

"He was at breakfast this morning."

"Oh. Does he still believe that I put my name in the Goblet?"

"Harry, I don't think he ever _really_ believed it but everything does tend to happen to you."

"I don't ask for it," he snapped.

"I know that Harry and so does he but I think this might have been the last straw."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Well, you're famous and he's not. No matter what he does, one of his brothers have already done it."

"He's jealous?' asked Harry incredulously.

Hermione nodded.

"He can have the fame if he wants it that badly. I certainly don't."

Hermione just sighed. Harry was really going to go ballistic when he finds out what everyone was saying about him now that they knew he was supposed to have been in Slytherin.

* * *

By lunch time Severus had heard about the fight between Potter and Weasley. He couldn't believe it. Potter in Slytherin?

No. The rumor _must_ have changed some. Harry was the most Gryffindor-ish Gryffindor that he had ever met.

"Is it true Albus?"

Severus pretended to be engrossed in his food.

"What Alastor?"

"Potter should have been in Slytherin?"

Severus heard the Headmaster sigh. "It's not my place to confirm or deny."

Severus growled. He had Potter that afternoon in Potions. He would find out himself.

Severus let his eyes scan up and down the Gryffindor table. No sign of Potter. The boy had missed breakfast too. He then saw Granger run in, say something to Weasley, grab some food, and leave again.

At least his son was eating.

* * *

Harry was in a foul mood. All day long he had heard, "Were you _really_ supposed to be in Slytherin?" "Did you _really_ not put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" "Are you going to be leaving the tower?" "Does this mean that you are going to turn evil?" If it hadn't been a first year that had asked that last question so innocently, he imagined he would have hexed whoever it came from.

Thankfully he had not blown anything or anyone up since last night but he'd only been with the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors all day long.

He had potions coming up and he was seriously considering skipping class.

If there was ever a place he was likely to lose it, it would be during that class.

"Come on Harry. You know that if you don't show up, Professor Snape will give you a weeks worth of detention again."

Thus he went to class.

When he entered the room, he was met by dead silence.

'Well that's different,' he thought.

Ignoring everyone, he sat in his normal seat. If Ron didn't want to sit next to him, he could move.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and sat in between both boys.

The room was utterly silent. The Slytherins were staring at him, looking like they simply wanted to dissect him to see what he looked like on the inside. The Gryffindor's had learned by this point in the day to quit asking him questions.

He felt his temper rise but he took a deep, calming breath. He would _not_ blow anything up.

When the bell rang, Snape swooped into the room in his normal bat like manner.

Thankfully class proceeded as normal. As Harry was taking notes on the poison of the day, a knock came at the door.

It was Ginny Weasley. Harry watched her hand Snape a note.

A sneer took over his features. "Potter, gather your things and follow Miss Weasley to the Headmaster. I still expect you to hand in your homework on Thursday."

'Yes sir."

Once they got in the hallway, Harry turned to Ginny. "What does Dumbledore want with me?"

"I'm not sure. I was passing by his office on the way to the library when he stopped me and asked me to fetch you."

Harry sighed. Maybe Dumbledore found a way to get him out of the Tournament.

"And for what it's worth, I'm sorry Ron is being a jerk to you."

"It's alright." Harry was suddenly very tired.

They parted ways at the Great Hall.

"The side room where you met last night," she told him before continuing on to the library.

Harry nodded. "Thanks Ginny. See you later."

* * *

_November 1, 1994_

_I'm so tired but I have to say that Rita Skeeter is evil._

_Okay, not so much Voldemort evil, but the annoying kind of evil. I can only imagine what that article is going to say._

_I can't believe how big of a git Ron is being. _

_At least I didn't lose my temper today. That aught to count for something._

_-Harry_

After Harry put his journal away, he crawled back into bed. Hopefully when he wakes up tomorrow, he'll discover that all of this was just a horrible nightmare.

* * *

He was sitting in a chair. An owl flew in through the window.

"What does it say Wormtail?"

"Things proceeding as planned. If you want me to execute it earlier, I am in position to do so. From my observation S play's neutrality line. K has crossed completely."

Voldemort let out a hiss of a chuckle.

Harry sat straight up in bed and blinked. What woke him? Glancing around showed that everyone was asleep. Shrugging, he fell back asleep - not remembering his dream.

* * *

Susan and Harry were paired up again - this time collecting bubotubar pus.

"I honestly didn't enter Susan," he whispered.

None of the Hufflepuffs were talking to him. Even Professor Sprout was acting cold towards him.

"I believe you Harry," she said softly.

He smiled at her. "Thanks. You appear to be the only one that does, other than Hermione and Neville."

She smiled back. "Are you nervous?"

"I'd say terrified but that's not a horrifying enough of a word. I'm not sure it's sunk in yet."

She closed the jar they had just filled with pus.

"Once you have collected 3 jars, you all can leave. Don't forget about your essay that's due next class," stated Professor Sprout as she made her rounds around the greenhouse.

* * *

"Ah, there you are Mister Potter. Come with me."

Harry looked up at McGonagall. "What ever it was, I didn't do it," he said before he could stop himself.

She smiled faintly. "Feeling guilty about something are you? Rest assured, you're not in trouble. The Headmaster needs you."

"Did he figure out a way to get me out of this?"

"I'm sorry Potter. You heard him the other night. It's a magical contract. It can't be broken."

They continued the journey in silence.

"Twisty Tart Taffy."

Harry stepped up on the stone gargoyle and let it take him to the Headmaster's office.

What he saw when he opened the door surprised him.

"Sirius!"

Harry dropped his book bag and ran and gave him a hug. As he pulled away from his godfather, he saw the glowy thing in the corner of the room belonging to Snape.

He wondered why the man was lurking but quickly pushed it out of his mind and focused on his god father instead.

"What are you doing here? Sirius you might get caught. You shouldn't have come for me."

"Nonsense. I'll be alright. How are you?'

"A mess."

"Harry, did you put your name in that Goblet?"

"No!"

"Alright. I had to ask. I'm sorry I didn't write back to you kidd-o. I've been fixing up the place where I've been staying. Mooney is helping me."

Harry frowned. "Sirius you shouldn't stay in any one place for very long. You can be tracked there."

"What did I tell you about letting me be the grown up?"

Harry snorted which caused Sirius to reach out and ruffle his hair.

"Is Ron still upset with you?"

Harry nodded. "During our fight, he yelled out something that I had thought he would keep secret. Everyone is being so odd because of that."

"What did he say?"

Harry bit his lip. He was afraid to tell Sirius. He remembered what the man had written in his letter about Slytherins'.

"It's okay Harry. You can tell me."

"You might get upset."

"I promise I won't."

Harry sighed but never the less maneuvered Sirius into sitting down in a chair. "He yelled that maybe I should have just let the hat put me in Slytherin - where it wanted to."

He heard Sirius suck in a deep breath. He flinched automatically.

"The hat wanted to put you in Slytherin?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, Ron probably didn't mean what he said. People often say things they don't mean in the heat of the moment."

Harry let out a breath of relief and chuckled. "I see Mooney's been talking to you."

Sirius laughed. "Maybe. Now. Have you had anymore dreams?"

"No. Although ... I did wake up last night but I don't know if it was because of a dream or because I heard a noise. It was no big deal."

"You sure?"

Harry nodded.

"I need to go. Albus told me that I could have a couple of minutes with you."

Harry hugged Sirius again. "Thanks for coming Sirius. I feel better already."

"Just be careful during this Tournament Harry. These tasks are designed to test you in the worst possible way."

"I'll be fine Sirius. Please stay hidden and be careful. I can't lose you."

Dumbledore came down the stairs then. "Hello Harry. I trust you had a nice visit?"

"I did. Thank you sir."

"Dinner should still be going on. Run along."

With another quick hug to Sirius, Harry picked up his book bag and left.

* * *

"How can Black possibly make Harry that happy? He was only with him the first time for a couple of hours." Severus asked Albus. "Is it the godfather bond?"

When a god parent is named, a ritual is performed to help a bond form between the adult and the child. In the case of a sudden parent loss, the bond helps the adult care for the grieving child. Since Black had been sent to Azkaban, he didn't think it had a full chance to form, but clearly some of it had done so.

"I imagine that is part of it."

"But not all of it." It wasn't a question, just a statement. "He was truly supposed to have been in Slytherin then?"

"He would have done well there too," spoke up the hat.

Severus turned to the hat. "Then why did you put him in Gryffindor?"

"Because he asked me to."

Severus sneered. "I should shred you for depriving me of seeing a shocked Wizarding World."

"Severus. You're threatening a hat," the Headmaster said while chuckling.

Severus groaned. "I've been around you way too long."

* * *

A/N: I can only imagine the flogging this chapter is going to get me, but before you all start hunting for the chains and whips, I would like to say that Harry is too curious for his own good. He won't let what Snape had been about to tell him be forgotten. ;0) And as for Ron, I needed some drama so I kept the fight from the book.

Poor Harry, he never wanted anyone to know that the hat had wanted him in Slytherin and now the whole school knows. I figured that it would be fitting for them to find out via his and Ron's arguement.

The next chapter involves Harry going on a little adventure of his own. :) I imagine I'm going to lose some readers with what I hint at in the next chapter, but I hope everyone stays around. I've been trying to make it believeable in the long run with what all I have planned, and I think I've succeeded. I just need everyone to be a little bit more patient with me. And I need everyone to put down their blast ended skrewts that you are planning to throw at me too. Since the next chapter isn't very long, I'll try to have it up tomorrow night. *runs away* :)


	66. Girls and Side Adventures

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof! I just like to play with them.

A/N: Normally I put personal Author Notes at the end of the chapters, but I just wanted to ease one of the concerns that some of the readers have expressed. (Honestly, it seemed to be the biggest one actually, so hopefully what I have planned will be minor compared to that.) No, this is not going to be a slash story. If it was, I would have put the warning of it in the heading and in the very first chapter. Now, on with this small chapter!

* * *

Chapter 66

* * *

Harry was currently in the library looking for some books. It had been a week since his name had came out of the Goblet of Fire.

The stares and the jests had not stopped around him at all, though most of Gryffindor had finally decided that since he had chose Gryffindor over Slytherin, he wasn't suddenly going to turn into the devil. Ron still wasn't talking to him. In fact, Ron seemed to act as if he was contagious. It was very disheartening, especially after everything they had been through together.

He eventually found the book that Hermione had sent him to look for. As he rounded the corner carrying it, he ran into a girl with long dark hair, accidentally knocking her down.

Harry immediately recognized her. He had run into her - literally - four other times.

"We have got to quit meeting like this Gabriella," he said as he helped her up.

"Sorry Harry. I think that one was my fault."

"Nope. Mine again. I wasn't watching where I was going. Whatcha working on?" he asked eyeing the charm books in her arms.

"Mood charms essay for Flitwick."

"Not too bad of an essay then."

"Harry! There you are," said Hermione. "Oh. Sorry. I'll ... uh ... wait back by the table."

"Studying with Hermione again?"

Harry was confused by his friends odd retreat. "Yeah. She asked me to help her look for a book."

"Are you two dating?"

Harry choked. "Oh no. She's just a friend."

"Gabby! What are you doing talking to Potter?" hissed her brother coming up behind her.

"I can talk to who I want to. Anyway, nice seeing you again Harry."

Harry watched as she walked away arguing with Theodore Nott.

* * *

Harry sat straight up in bed. He now knew for certain that he had been dreaming of the Chamber of Secrets. Glancing at the clock showed that it was a little after 1 in the morning.

Grinning, Harry hopped up and quietly put on his clothes. He then grabbed his broom, the Marauder's map, and his invisibility cloak and carefully made his way down the stairs.

It was Saturday so he figured it would be a while before anyone woke up and it wasn't like he would be missed for a couple of hours.

Harry carefully made his way to the girls bathroom on the second floor. Thankfully, he didn't encounter anyone on his journey.

After making sure that Myrtle wasn't present, he turned to the sink. "_Open_," he hissed.

Harry winced. The sink was noisy. Very noisy.

Hopping on his broom, he flew down the tunnel. Once he was at the bottom, he heard the sink close through the echo of the pipe.

Putting his invisibility cloak and map in his pocket, he headed off towards the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry grimaced upon seeing the decaying skin the basilisk had shed. He carefully stepped around it and eventually ended up in front of another door with several inlays of snakes.

"_Open_," hissed Harry.

The clanging from the door echoed loudly in the cavern.

What he saw inside made his eyes open in surprise.

The basilisk in front of him looked like it had just died. There was no decay present on it anywhere.

Clang!

Harry jumped. "Merlins' knickers," he muttered. The door behind him had closed.

Turning around, Harry surveyed the chamber. His blood was still in the corner where he had been bitten. The statue looked ominous standing there. It seemed to be staring at him.

Harry then turned to the left side of the room where he saw the outline of two doors embedded in the stone wall. They were clearer now than they had been two years ago.

'I'm pretty sure that there are no more basilisks,' he thought. 'Better make sure.'

"_Hello. Anyone there?_" hissed Harry.

He felt slightly better when no response came.

Harry then turned his attention to the door.

"_Open_," he hissed.

"Of course, that would have been too easy," he muttered when the door didn't open.

After twenty minutes of trying, Harry turned to focus on the statue. He knew how it opened up. Hopping on his broom, he flew up to the mouth of the statue and hissed, "_Speak to me Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four_."

It only took five minutes to explore the enclosed area. It was just a big chamber that had snake skins everywhere.

Landing back down in the main area, he began to examine the wall where the doors were again.

"_Will you just open already_," hissed Harry after a while.

To his surprise, the left door opened.

Harry just shook his head and walked in the room.

It was empty.

Well not entirely. There were bookshelves, a desk, and even a bed in the room.

But that was all that was present.

Harry frowned.

'Maybe Voldemort took everything when he had been a student here,' he thought.

It was sad really. There could have been a lot of interesting books down here from the Founder's Time.

Harry then turned his attention to the other door.

"_Tempus_,"he murmured after a while.

5:19 floated in ghostly letters.

Harry sighed. He would sneak back down here again and see if he could get in that door tonight. As he went to stand, he saw something on the base of the wall.

"_Lumos Maxima._"

Etched on the corner of the lowest brick was all four house symbols, which was certainly an oddity in Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets.

His eyebrows shot up in his hairline. He strained his memory to try to recall what he read about Hogwarts and the Founders in Hogwarts: A History.

"Argh," he huffed. He couldn't remember.

After grabbing his belongings, he made his way back through the tunnel and eventually back to Gryffindor Tower.

Again, he found it pretty easy to sneak back to the dorm. He only had to dodge Professor Vector.

After a quick shower (he had gotten filthy - which would have been hard to explain since he was supposed to have been asleep), he retrieved his copy of Hogwarts: A History and flipped through it.

It didn't take him long to find the passage he was looking for.

'_Some say that the ghosts of the four founders still linger within its walls, keeping watch over the students to make sure no serious harm comes to them. Of course, there is no proof of that. Surely they would want to watch over their own houses instead of the present day house ghosts.'_

The book then went on to discuss the present day house ghosts.

Harry put the book down. He had about twenty things running through his head at once. He was so engrossed in the many ideas formulating in his head, he never heard Hermione come up behind him.

"Already up Harry?"

Harry startled so badly that the table next to him cracked. "Don't do that," he said putting his hand over his chest.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

"_Reparo_," muttered Harry.

"Are you hungry?"

Harry nodded. After breakfast, he had some research to do.

* * *

"Nice Neville."

Harry had taken a break from his research and was currently playing gobstones with Neville and Dean. He had finally formulated an idea and even had some of the details already planned but he was having trouble with some of the logistics of it.

He figured a break would help him clear his head. Plus it had been a while since he had played a good game of gobstones.

POOF!

Harry looked up to where the sound came from and burst out laughing.

The twins had changed Lee Jordan into a bright yellow canary.

He then saw something that gave him pause. One of the portraits behind Fred looked to be giving a lecture. He idly wondered if any of the Founder's portraits were in the castle. If they did exist, it would make his idea a whole lot easier and require a lot less work from him. Hopefully, if they existed, he'd be able to find them without raising too much suspicion. He probably wasn't supposed to be in the Chamber of Secrets again and if anyone suspected him going back down there, especially after it coming out where the hat wanted to put him to start with, he imagined that all of Gryffindor would throw him out of the tower.

* * *

"I'll meet you in charms Hermione. I need to run up to the owlery."

She nodded - distracted by some book she was trying to read while she walked.

Harry just shook his head. As he entered the owlery, he - again - literally ran into someone.

"Harry. I'm so sorry."

"C - Ch- Cho," he managed to finally stutter out.

They stared at each other very awkwardly for a couple of minutes when Harry asked, "Sending a letter?"

"Just finished," she said. "I better get to class."

"Class? Oh. Class. Right. See you Cho."

"Bye Harry."

Harry watched her go and turned to give his letter to Hedwig. It had been a while since she had been on a delivery.

He barely made it to charms before the bell rang. He was trying desperately _not_ to think of how big of an idiot Cho must think he is.

* * *

As it turned out, finding the portraits of the Founders had been fairly easy. They did indeed exist. The ones of Gryffindor and Slytherin appeared to be guarding secret passages for short cuts. Ravenclaw's portrait was on the 5th floor, not too far from the Ravenclaw dorms. Hufflepuff's portrait had been near the kitchens.

The problem he encountered was that none of them would talk to him. Not even the one of Slytherin when he hissed to it and said that he had found the Chamber of Secrets. They had just merely stared at him curiously. It had been rather annoying.

It seemed he had to figure out how to get into that room on his own.

Nothing could ever just be plain and easy for him it seemed. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen them somewhere before but he couldn't place where he'd seen them at. It was most likely going to drive him crazy until he figured it out.

* * *

A/N: Ok, lemme clear up some problems I forsee this chapter causing. No, Harry will not be an heir to Gryffindor nor to any of the other Founder's line. While I have read some stories that have pulled it off nicely, I do not think that I could do the same.

During my original outline of the story, this chapter would not have existed, but I got to thinking (which in itself is dangerous :P) one night while I was re-reading the Chamber of Secret's book about a few things. As such, while Harry's "plans" and "ideas" are merely just that at this point, eventually, they will come into play later on. However, they won't have a major impact (*shifty eyed*) on the story, _nor_ will this story become about the Founders.

Then why mention them at all? Because this allows Harry to start seeing some of his own abilities and understanding what's in front of him better. In short, it will help him grow, both as a wizard and as a boy. (Especially when he discovers what's behind that door.)

Besides, in my eyes, what I have about to happen very well could have happened originally. With magic, most anything is possible. =) Like I said, it's Rowling's world, I just wanna play with it the way that I want to. =)

Just be patient with me. I promise that it will all work out in the end and make sense, without going off of the deep end. =)

Now, I know that there was no Severus in this chapter. He returns in the next. I promise! Speaking of the next chapter, Harry finds out that staff talks about him and Severus glares at the Headmaster. *giggles* It takes us right up to the first task.


	67. Week Prior to the First Task

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof! I just like to play with them!

* * *

Chapter 67

* * *

Harry had a huge headache but he decided to go to Hogsmeade anyway. However, he was going to do so under his invisibility cloak.

The stares, teasing, and rumors had subsided some but the first task was next weekend so they hadn't gone away yet. In fact, it seemed that they had started back up in full force again.

Just thinking of whatever the first task could be made him feel like a knot was growing in his stomach. Whenever he spied Cedric, Fleur, and Victor, they looked calmer, but then again - they had also signed up for this.

After spending some time in the Three Broomsticks, Harry and Hermione left, which made them almost run straight into Ron, who was entering the pub.

"Where's Harry at? Off giving an interview with Skeeter again?"

"No Ron. I'm not," he hissed.

Ron jumped. "Why are you hiding?"

"Because I'm tired of every bloody person staring at me."

"Whatever."

Harry watched him walk away. "I'm going back Hermione. I'll see you at dinner."

Before she could respond, he turned and walked away.

* * *

"What do you mean the first task involves dragons?" hissed Severus.

Albus sighed. "I can't tell you what _all_ it involves but it does involve dragons."

"Potter is only a 4th year. How is he supposed to get past a dragon? Normally it's a 5th year discussion in Care of Magical Creatures. I doubt he knows anything about them."

"Sit down Severus before I put a sticking charm on you and on that chair. You're wearing a hole in my floor with your pacing."

Glaring, Severus sat down.

"Now. Harry is resourceful. The first task is designed to test bravery in the face of the unknown. We already know he has courage in spades against the unknown from his first three years. He will be fine during this task."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I have faith. You should too."

The glare Severus gave the Headmaster told him what he thought of that faith and where he could put it too.

* * *

Harry stared in utter shock at the four dragons.

He was dead.

It was as simple as that.

There was no way that he'd be able to do anything that involved dragons. Even the dragon tamers were having trouble with the Hungarian Horntail.

Harry was walking in a semi-daze back to the castle when he was caught off guard by someone slamming into him. Thankfully his invisibility cloak didn't fall off of him.

When he looked up, he saw that it was Karkaroff. He frowned. Madame Maxime was on a date with Hagrid down by the dragon enclave. That meant that every champion would know about them but Cedric.

Harry sighed. He would need to find some way to tell him.

In the meantime, he needed to get back to the dorms without being caught - which sadly took longer than normal because there were teachers patrolling everywhere. In fact, he had almost been caught by Snape. That would be all he needed. Detention on top of dragons.

* * *

Severus had been prowling the corridors looking for people to give detention to when he heard a noise. He stopped and listened. A wordless spell told him that someone was standing not more than 3 feet from him.

He had been about two seconds away from storming over there and giving whoever it was a detention when he realized that it was his son. What in Merlin's name was he doing out after curfew? He eyed the footprints that led to where he was standing and realized that he had been outside.

Severus backed off down the hallway some, hoping to see where Potter was going. Satisfied that he seemed to be returning to the Tower, he back traced the footprints. He would see where the boy had been.

When he got outside, he lost the trail, but there would only be one reason that he would be out at night. He had gone to see Hagrid.

Severus scowled. Hagrid should know better, and so should Harry.

Unless ... he knew that the dragons would be delivered tonight and placed on the other side of the Forbidden Forrest. He also knew that Hagrid had a huge fascination for the creatures. Maybe he showed them to Harry? If so, that would definitely give him a chance to prepare for the first task.

Without making a sound, he stole back into the castle and finished his rounds.

* * *

"Mister Potter. Please summon that pillow to yourself."

"_Accio pillow_," Harry said while pointing his wand at the pillow and giving it a swift flick back toward himself.

Nothing happened. He sighed.

"See me after class."

"Yes sir."

After class let out, Harry approached Professor Flitwick's desk.

"Have a seat Mister Potter."

Harry sat down at the nearest table.

Flitwick pointed to the board. "Using your wand, write on that."

Harry blinked but pointed his wand at the chalk board and said, "_Ascribo Harry Potter_."

Flitwick nodded in satisfaction when Harry's name wrote itself on the board.

"Make this chair levitate."

Harry was confused but nevertheless did as he was told.

"You can cast a seventh year spell just as easily as you can a first year spell."

Harry frowned. He didn't know that writing with his wand was a 7th year spell. He'd been able to do that since his first year. He watched as Flitwick summoned a book off of his shelf and opened it.

"Read that section on banishing charms and try to banish the pillow to the box in the corner of the room."

"Sir, I'm afraid -"

"Humor me."

"All right." Harry read the section on banishing charms. After 10 minutes of reading, he looked at the pillow, and while flicking his wand toward the box in the corner said, "_Depulso Pillow_."

His aim was off by a foot, but it did fly in the general direction of the box.

Flitwick nodded.

Harry suddenly got the feeling that he was some kind of experiment.

"Banishing objects is a spell that you will learn how to do later this year. It's something that most people can't do unless they can perform the summoning charm."

"I don't understand sir."

Harry saw Flitwick sit down in his chair behind the desk. "Did you know that I taught your mother? She was one of the brightest students in charms that I had taught in a long time. She actually obtained a mastery in it after she graduated."

Harry smiled but he was still confused as to what this had to do with anything.

"I remember your mother had the worst time getting stuff to levitate - a simple first year spell. There was actually a handful of spells that was classified as easy to cast that she had trouble with, yet the most difficult ones, she could cast with the bat of an eye."

"How did she get around it?"

"After many discussions, I discovered that it was her inability to focus properly."

"I'm confused, sir."

"That was the problem," he said grinning. "Right now, you're probably worried about the first task in two days so your mind isn't all here, yet when I had you read about the banishing charm, it forced you to focus harder. Humor me and summon the pillow to yourself now."

"_Accio pillow_. AHH!" Harry ducked. Four of them zoomed at his head.

"A little too much power but it worked because your mind was no longer wandering. Keep practicing. You'll get better at it."

"Sir, is it like this in all my classes? I ask because I'm pants at Transfiguration and I swear I'm concentrating in there."

The tiny professor chuckled. "I seriously doubt it. I knew that you had the potential in here, especially considering that you've been able to write with your wand since your first year."

"How did you know that?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"The staff talks Mr. Potter."

Harry groaned in mortification. He then had a question float through his mind. "Sir ... I know that sometimes some of my classmates have trouble with charms. Is it because they aren't focusing either?"

"No, Mister Potter. You seem to be pre-naturally gifted, like your mother, when it comes to charms. Some people have no talent for it what so ever. You said that you were having trouble with Transfiguration and it's not because of your concentration. It could be that you just don't have any real talent for it. Not everyone can be gifted in everything."

"Except for Hermione," Harry said before he could stop himself.

Professor Flitwick chuckled. "Ms. Granger, too, will eventually run across something she will struggle with. Right now, her photographic memory is on her side. Down the road, she might find it a hindrance rather than helpful."

Harry seemed to ponder that as he gathered his things to leave. "Thanks for helping me Professor. I'll keep practicing."

"And Mister Potter?"

Harry turned around. "Good luck on Friday."

"Thank you sir." Having said that, Harry headed off to dinner.

* * *

Harry was leaving Moody's office to head up to the dorms when he saw Gabriella talking to her friend from Ravenclaw.

"Hey Harry."

"Hey Gabriella, Morgana."

"Detention?" the third year Slytherin girl asked.

"Not exactly." Harry readjusted his book bag. It was crammed full of stuff. "He was just helping me with something. I'm heading to the library. If I don't return some of these books, Madam Pince will murder me."

Gabriella laughed. "I just wanted to wish you luck on Friday."

"Thank you. I'll see you around." As he headed towards the library, he heard both of them giggling.

* * *

"Moody, what _are_ you doing in my personal stores?" demanded an irate Snape.

"Searching for dark artifacts."

"I'll have you know that the Headmaster trusts me, so remove yourself from my ingredient cupboard at once."

"I'll be keeping an eye on you Snape."

Severus watched with a blank expression as Moody limped away.

That had been the second time he had caught the man rummaging around in his stores. A quick search didn't reveal anything missing, so he immediately set up wards around his cupboard, stronger than normal.

Severus then headed back to his office. He had a detention to supervise for Professor Vector.

* * *

A/N: Hm.. I didn't realize that this was so short. *Accepts the flogging.* In case you can't tell, I happen to like the charms professor. hehe =) Up next, the first task! I should have it posted sometime tomorrow. I just wanted to thank everyone for the reviews so far. They really do encourage me!


	68. The First Task

A/N: For some reason, fanfiction didn't send out a notice that I added another chapter yesterday, so for those that missed it, it's there! *points*

A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any character thereof. I just like to play with them! =)

* * *

Chapter 68

* * *

Friday, November the 25th, looked to be a nice cool - but not too cold of a day.

Harry, however, didn't notice any of this. He was walking around like a zombie.

During his Herbology class, he was pulled out by McGonagall. As he was leaving the room, he heard Susan whisper, "Good luck Harry."

Hermione smiled at him but he was saddened that Ron wouldn't even look his way.

"Deposit your books up in your room. There you'll find a poncho with your name on it. Bring it down with you when you come to join us in the side room off of the Great Hall. You won't be able to return to the dorm until after the task tonight, so make sure you have everything you'll need."

Harry nodded. Once in his dorm, he changed clothes and put on a different - older - set of robes. He did however put jeans and a sweater on that he had gotten during the summer before his third year. He would wear his school robe over them until later. He also put on his tennis shoes.

After placing his poncho in a robe pocket, he laid his broom on his bed and opened a window. He then left a note for his dorm mates asking them not to bother either.

Taking a deep breath, he headed down to the room off of the Great Hall.

* * *

Harry was in a meditative trance when Mr. Bagman entered into the Champions tent that had been erected near the Quidditch Pitch.

He listened, along with everyone else, as the rules were explained.

During the drawing of dragons, he saw Cedric give him a slight nod. He had indeed managed to warn him about them. Seemed the Hufflepuff had a plan.

After the final things had been said, Harry returned to his corner to begin to calm his mind again.

* * *

Severus was sitting in the stands. His face was a mask of impassivity but inside he was worried. Okay, actually he was terrified but he was trying desperately not to admit it to himself.

As a form of distraction, he scanned the crowds. The Gryffindors all had a flashing banner to cheer on Potter. Severus was fully aware that Weasley was still upset with Harry. Harry's work had dropped in quality a little because of this. The Hufflepuffs were naturally cheering on Diggory. There were a few signs in the crowd that showed that.

The Slytherins were also cheering on Diggory. The badges proclaiming 'Potter Stinks' showed that. As he scanned the area where the Ravenclaws were sitting, he frowned. It seemed that only the Gryffindors were supporting Potter.

It appeared that everyone either still believed that he had put his own name into the Goblet or the rumor of the hat wanting to put him in Slytherin had put them off.

Oddly enough, his Slytherins had not confronted Potter (to his knowledge) about that rumor. His 4th year potions' class had been quiet the past couple of weeks because of this.

Eventually Albus joined the judges down on a platform below him. Even from where Severus sat, he could see the panic in his eyes.

* * *

"Welcome to the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament! Each of our champions will have to face a dragon and retrieve a golden egg!"

Everyone started cheering.

"Without this egg, they cannot hope to complete the second task. Now. About thirty minutes ago, each of the Champions drew a mini replica of each of the dragons that they will be facing. They will be judged on how efficiently they get the egg and the technique they use to get it. If they or the dragon becomes injured, they will have points deducted."

Everyone cheered again.

"Our first champion to face his dragon is Cedric Diggory. As soon as we bring the dragon in, we will begin."

* * *

Harry was pacing back and forth in the tent. Victor Krum had just left so he was all alone.

His nerves were officially shot. He sat down and took several deep breaths. He had almost got his heart to quit racing when he heard, "Well done!"

Harry began pacing again. Eventually he heard, "Our fourth and final champion is Harry Potter and he will be facing the Hungarian Horntail!"

Ten minutes later, he heard the canon go off, signaling for him to enter the rock quarry that had been built to mimic the dragons' habitat.

Harry glanced around the stands. He saw a shimmering protective barrier around them to shield the spectators. He desperately wished he was on that side of the barrier.

Then he saw the dragon. It was standing guard over the eggs. He briefly wondered how he had not seen it first.

It was huge.

Harry pulled his wand out and put himself behind one of the rocks, out of the Horntails' line of sight.

Pulling in his power and focusing on his Firebolt sitting on his bed, he yelled, "_Accio Harry Potter's Firebolt_!"

It would work or it wouldn't but for the time being he needed to take evasive action.

It seemed that the dragon didn't like losing sight of its prey.

* * *

Severus watched as Potter came out onto the quarry. He looked so small, especially opposite the dragon.

And the dragon. Leave it to Potter to draw the Hungarian Horntail.

He watched as the boy took in his surroundings then heard him summon his broom. Hell, he _felt_ Potter summon his broom. The magic washed all over the stadium. Even those that were not sensitive to feeling magic most likely felt that.

It appeared that the dragon felt the wave of magic too and started looking for its source.

He watched as Potter dove behind a rock - narrowly avoiding a jet of flame.

It was perhaps two minutes later when the broom flew straight to Potter. Severus watched with trepidation as the boy hopped on it in midair and circled the dragon - barely out flying another jet of flame.

Severus merely shook his head. Only Potter would treat this as a Quidditch game.

* * *

Albus watched as the boy flew left and right, trying to get the dragon to leave the eggs.

He, along with everyone else, gasped when the dragons tail swung and sent Harry flying. He was really impressed when he had managed, in midair, to regain his balance and get the dragon to _finally_ leave its perch.

The second he grabbed the egg, 30 dragon tamers leapt forth and cast simultaneous stunners at the Hungarian Horntail.

While they were removing the dragon, Harry got his scores.

* * *

Harry was in second place. He grinned, completely oblivious to the fact that his shoulder was bleeding. As he was leaving the pitch, he was ambushed by Madam Pomphrey.

"In the medical tent. Now!"

Sighing in resignation, he entered the tent and sat down in a chair. The other champions must have already been released by her.

"Take this Mister Potter. Honestly! Dragons! If I could strangle Albus I would," huffed Madam Pomphrey.

Harry shook his head at the school nurse as she closed up his wound.

As she bustled away to get who knows what else for him to drink, Hermione came around the curtain followed by a shaken Ron. She leapt at him.

"You did it Harry! Your summoning charm was perfect!"

"Ow! Hermione!"

"Sorry," she said grinning as she pulled away.

Harry looked over at Ron as he cleared his throat. "I reckon whoever put your name in that Goblet really is out to kill you."

"Finally caught on have you?"

Ron turned red. "I'm sorry that I acted like such a prat. I should have known that you didn't put your name in the Goblet of Fire. It's just that ... well ... I kind of got ... jealous of all the attention you always get ... " By the time Ron was finished speaking, he was mumbling so low that Harry had barely heard him.

Harry grinned and realized that it didn't matter. He desperately missed Ron's friendship. "I'm sorry too. Tell me what the others did."

As Madam Pomphrey came back with another blood replenishing potion, Harry heard Hermione mutter, "boys" while shaking her head.

* * *

That night found Severus downing a glass of fire whiskey in one gulp. He had a suspicion that all this worrying about Harry was going to give him a heart attack, but he supposed that it was something that all parents went through.

Except that no one else was the father of a boy that attracted more trouble in an hour than anyone else he had ever met - which really was saying something.

He eyed the bottle of alcohol then sighed in frustration. He needed to sleep, not get drunk. After one more small glass, he headed off to bed.

* * *

A/N: I had a lot of fun writing the next chapter and I promise that it more than makes up for these past couple of short ones, at least in length. I should have it up in a couple of days. I just need to do some editing and a bit of fine tuning to it before I post it. =)


	69. Discoveries and Date Searching

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof!

* * *

Chapter 69

* * *

_Harry,_

_Congratulations on getting past the dragon. James would have loved to have seen you fly around a Hungarian Horntail. Remember you still have two tasks ahead of you. Figure out the next clue as soon as you can that way you won't stress too much about what might lay ahead._

_I want you to watch yourself around Karkaroff and Snape. They were both known Death Eaters during the first war. Karkaroff only got out of Azkaban because he turned in some names of other Death Eaters. Snape was kept out of prison because Albus had said that he had turned spy for the light or some such rubbish._

_I don't know why Albus believed Snape. Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater._

_I'm glad you and Ron made up. It's important to keep your friends close._

_I hope you've not had any more dreams. If you do, make sure you go to the Headmaster._

_Love,_

_Padfoot._

Harry re-read the letter. Snape and Karkaroff were Death Eaters? But that didn't make any sense. Surely Dumbledore wouldn't let Snape teach if he had been a Death Eater. As for Karkaroff, Harry wondered if he had been the one to put his name in the Goblet of Fire. After a few minutes more of contemplation, he stowed his letter in his trunk and went off in search of Neville.

Ron was currently serving a detention because he had kicked at Mrs. Norris and Filch had seen it.

* * *

It was December 3rd and Harry was getting ready to go to Hogsmeade. As he was putting on his shoes, Hermione came barging into the room.

"You know, one of these days you're going to do that and one of us is going to be stark naked," pointed out Harry.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Let's go. I want to run by the book store."

"For what?" asked Ron. "You already have a lot of books."

She was saved from answering, however, because a tiny elf popped up in front of Harry at that moment and launched itself at him.

"Harry Potter!" it squeaked.

"Dobby?"

The little elf pulled away. "It is Dobby sir. Dobby is being so glad to see you."

"I'm glad to see you too, Dobby. What are you doing here?" asked Harry.

"I is coming to work at Hogwarts sir. I is getting paid and time off too!"

"That's great Dobby," spoke up Hermione.

The little elf fell off the bed and stared at Hermione and Ron in awe.

"Harry Potter's friends are so great to be talking to Dobby," he exclaimed.

"Are you working today Dobby?"

"No sir, Harry Potter sir. I starts tomorrow but I be needing to go. I needs to help Winky settle in." The elf's ears drooped a little.

"Winky? Crouch's elf?" asked Ron.

Dobby nodded. "Winky has come to work here with me but she is not doing so well. She's addicted to the butterbeer," he whispered.

"Is she sick?"

"No. She is just missing Mr. Crouch but I is hoping to make her feel better."

Dobby then noticed that all three were dressed to leave. He reached for the book on Neville's night stand and started to hit himself over his head with it.

Harry quickly grabbed the book. "Dobby, why are you punishing yourself?"

"Because Dobby is keeping Harry Potter and his Wheazy and his Hermy from going to Hogsmeade."

"No you're not Dobby. We had just finished dressing when you came in the room," said Ron, clearly embarrassed at being called a Wheazy.

"Tell you what Dobby. As long as I'm not in class, you can come visit me whenever you want to."

"Really?"

Harry thought Dobby was going to cry, which was confirmed two seconds after Harry had nodded yes.

After he popped out, Ron muttered, "Definitely one of a kind."

Harry just smiled. He liked the little eccentric elf.

* * *

"McGonagall told me that I _had_ to find a partner to take to the ball even though I told her I don't want to go. She said that the Champions open the ball by dancing."

Harry and Ron were currently in a study hall being prowled by Snape.

"Who are you going to ask?" asked Ron, as he dug in his bag for another piece of parchment.

Harry pictured Cho in his head but opted to stay silent.

"It shouldn't be hard for you. You're the boy-who-lived _and_ you just flew past a dragon."

"Mr. Weasley. If you _cannot_ keep quiet, I _will_ give you a detention," snarled Snape.

Harry waited until Snape had walked away to whisper back, "I think I'd like to have another go at the dragon to be honest."

* * *

Snape heard the final comment of Harry's and smirked

The only person that he had ever seen his son look at with any interest was Cho Chang. The thought of telling the birds and the bees to Harry entered his mind and he shuttered.

'Too young,' thought Severus. That wasn't a lecture he _ever_ wanted to give. Hopefully Harry would read up on it on his own. Of course, he could also con Poppy or Minerva into talking to him about it.

Severus pondered that idea while he went over to yell at a group of Hufflepuff's that were being loud.

* * *

Harry was in the book shelves in the library again. He was looking for something that could tell him what the glowy thing was while keeping an eye out for anything that might hint at how to get past the door in the Chamber of Secrets when he saw Cho enter the library.

His heart began to race. He waited until her friends walked away from her and slowly approached.

"H - Hi Cho," stuttered Harry. 'Bloody brilliant,' he thought.

"Oh. Hello Harry."

"I - I - I was wondering if you w-wanted to go to -"

"Hi Harry."

Harry jumped. Thankfully nothing exploded. Madam Pince would have killed him.

"Cedric. Hi. Uh. How are you?"

"Fine."

Harry watched as he pulled up a chair next to where Cho was about to sit. He turned beat red because he saw the answer in Cho's gaze.

"I'm sorry Harry. I don't know. Maybe Flitwick can recommend you a book about it."

Harry realized that she was helping him save face and he felt grateful for it. "Thanks anyway Cho. I'll do that. See you later."

Harry sullenly walked off after putting his books down. He wasn't in the mood for much anymore.

* * *

"Insomnia sucks," he muttered. "_Tempus_." 2:19 floated in the air.

Everyone around him was sound asleep. Deciding it was time for another trip to the Chamber of Secrets, Harry retrieved what he needed and carefully made his way down the pipe.

The chamber was still spooky but not as bad as the first time he was down there.

It was about 10 minutes to three when he reached the two hidden doors.

Harry knelt down to touch the brick with the four house symbols on it and smiled - again comforted by the magic within the walls of Hogwarts.

While touching the brick with the four symbols, Harry repeated the school motto in Latin.

Nothing happened.

So he hissed the school's motto in Latin using parseltongue (which was harder than one would think since it doesn't directly translate).

He grinned when the door opened. The idea had come to him a couple of days ago when Binns had lectured on something about the school.

Instead of a room like he expected, he found a stairway going up. "_Lumos Maxima_." Harry carefully made his way up the spiral staircase. After more than 200 steps, he came to another door. Praying that this door didn't open up into the Headmasters' office (can you imagine the explaining he would have to do?) he once again hissed the schools motto in Latin.

When the door didn't open right away, he placed his hand on it to brace himself so he could examine it closer but as soon as he had touched the door, it swung open.

"Hmm," he murmured as he warily crossed the threshold.

What he saw nearly made his eyes bug out. He actually pinched himself because he was sure that he had fallen into a dream.

"The legendary Founders Library," said Harry. It was one of those legends - like the Chamber of Secrets had been.

He was in awe.

Though why he didn't know. The Chamber of Secrets was _clearly_ not a legend.

The walls were lined with bookshelves, most had a snake, a lion, a badger, or an eagle etched on the top of them. There was a table and several chairs in the center of the room. Strangely enough, they had no dust on them at all.

The room must have the same type of preservation charm on it that the Chamber of Secrets has.

He walked further into the room and saw a fireplace in the corner. Setting his broom on the table, he saw another outline on the wall next to it but it didn't seem like a door. It was more like a door used to be there but wasn't anymore.

After lighting the wall sconces, he walked over to one of the bookshelves with a lion on it and randomly pulled out a book.

But when he touched it, it shocked him.

"Ow," he muttered.

He reached for the book again, expecting another shock but didn't receive one. Opening it, he saw words in Latin. He could read a few words since he was studying it on the side but that was all.

Harry headed to the book shelves with a snake on it next. This time, instead of a shock, there was a pulse of magic that washed over him.

"Odd," he muttered to himself again.

Opening the book he saw a bunch of swirls and squiggles which slowly became words.

Parseltongue. The book was written in parseltongue.

"I didn't even realize that it _could_ be written," he said out loud.

Again, the book was written in Latin on top of the parseltongue but he was able to recognize a few more words - enough for him to realize it was a book on spells of some sort. He carefully put it back on the shelf.

The books on the shelves with the eagle and badger were also written in Latin.

"_Tempus_." Harry started to panic when the numbers said 5:42.

It would take him at least 40 minutes to get back to the dorm. After grabbing a couple of random books from the lion bookshelves, he picked up his broom then headed toward the door, except he couldn't pass back through it.

It was like an invisible barrier had been erected when he wasn't looking.

Harry started pacing back and forth while trying to figure out how he had been able to enter but not leave. After a couple of minutes he realized that the only difference was the books.

He quickly put the books down on the table and tried to leave the room and this time he was able to.

"Ugh."

After dousing the lights in the room, he ran back down the stairs.

He got back to Gryffindor Tower at 6:45 a.m., barely dodging teachers and students alike. He had just managed to sneak back into bed and pull the covers over his head when Ron entered the dorm.

"Harry. There you are," said Ron. "Get up. We're going to be late for breakfast."

"I didn't sleep well last night Ron. I think I'm going to stay in bed for a little while longer. I couldn't even keep my eyes open long enough to go the loo." He did his best to try to sound groggy. He was pants at lying but hoped that Ron didn't pick up on that.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Tell Hermione I'm sick or something."

"Alright. I'll bring your homework to you."

Harry heard Ron leave and breathed a sigh of relief. He was still dirty from his venture and had been hoping that Ron wouldn't remove his blanket. Around 7:30, he got up to take a shower then really went to bed - exhausted.

* * *

_December 9, 1994_

_I actually found the _

Harry frowned. For some reason he couldn't write the Founders Library. It was like he was compelled not too. It was the oddest sensation that he had ever felt, which _really_ was saying something.

_... place where the secret books were hidden._

At least he could write that.

_I need to tell Dumbledore about it._

The second he finished writing that, a flash of pain seared through Harry's head. Odd. He suddenly felt very tired again. After putting his journal away, he fell back asleep.

* * *

"How come you've not found a date yet?" asked Ron. "I mean, if _you_ can't find one, how am _I_ going to find one?"

"I don't know who to ask," said Harry.

"You want to take someone that you can talk to," said Hermione over her Arithmancy book.

"Huh?"

"Think about it Harry. If you take someone that you can't talk to, it's going to be a horrible night because you will both be bored."

"Oh." That made sense but he couldn't think of any girls, other than Hermione, that he was comfortable talking to. "Someone needs to write a book on this."

Hermione just rolled her eyes, and thought for the 10th time so far that year that boys really were clueless.

* * *

As Herbology class let out, Harry spied Susan and her friends leave the green house in front of where he, Neville, Ron, and Hermione were walking. Remembering what Hermione said about taking someone to the dance that he could easily talk to, he excused himself.

"Susan, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Harry flushed as her friends started giggling.

"What's wrong Harry? You look a little green."

"Uh ... well." Harry took a deep breath. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the ball with me."

She blushed. "Oh Harry. I would love to but I'm already going with someone."

"Oh. Okay then. See you later."

"I'm sorry Harry."

Harry turned and smiled at her. "It's okay."

"Well?" asked Ron and Hermione together. (Evidently Neville had forgotten something and had to go back for it.)

Harry shook his head.

"This is crazy," said Ron. "Harry, why don't you take Ginny and I'll take Hermione."

"Ginny's going with Neville," said Harry. "I asked her last night." It served as another reminder that he was a failure at this whole girl thing.

"And I already have a date," stated Hermione.

"Who?" asked Ron incredulously.

"That's not important," said Hermione as she blushed. "Keep trying Harry."

"C'mon Hermione. Who are you going with?"

"A guy," she said as she stalked off towards Arithmancy.

Harry and Ron headed back to the dorms, both boys feeling rather dejected.

* * *

A couple of days later, Harry looked up from his potions homework to see Ron fidgeting. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Ron, you're acting like you have ants in your pants."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. It's a muggle expression. Sit down. You're making me nervous."

"I ... uh ... asked Parvati to go to the ball with me."

"Please tell me you didn't yell it at her like you did Fleur the other day."

That had been really amusing and Harry doubted that he would _ever_ let Ron live it down.

"No. I didn't yell it. Parvati said yes," he said after a slight hesitation.

Harry smiled. "Congratulations. I still don't have any idea who I'm going to take."

Ron fidgeted some more. "What about that Slytherin girl?"

Harry's head snapped up from his potion's homework. "Gabriella?"

Ron nodded.

"How do you even know about her?"

"Well ... uh ... after our fight, I saw you talking to her a few times and at first I thought you might actually be considering moving to Slytherin."

Harry started to interrupt but Ron continued speaking.

"I was an idiot of course, but you seemed to like talking to her."

"I do. She's nice. Plus it made Nott mad," Harry said grinning.

"I think you should ask her."

Harry thought about it. She had crossed his mind a time or two but he figured it would upset his and Ron's friendship if he went with a Slytherin.

"I'll ask her tomorrow. She's normally in the library after dinner on Wednesday's. I suppose the worst thing that could happen is that I get rejected ... again ... for the 5th time." He had (in desperation) asked Lavender Brown to the ball the day before only to find out that she was already going with someone else.

Ron just snickered.

* * *

Severus eyed the object in his hand. He had been contemplating on giving it to Harry for Christmas for a few days now.

It had been Lily's but she had given it to him during their first year, as a token of her friendship.

Severus reached over and pulled out a piece of parchment. After writing down some things, he headed off to Albus' office.

He was of the mind that if Albus so much as twinkled at him, he would hex the Headmaster into next week, and he would thoroughly enjoy it too.

* * *

"You did what Sirius?"

"I warned Harry about Snape and Karkaroff."

"Padfoot, you fool. Why would you do something like that? We talked about this."

"Harry needs to know who he can't trust."

"Harry seems to be a good judge of character on his own. Let him form his own opinions."

"But Mooney, Harry is just a boy."

"Sirius, Harry has never been 'just a boy'."

Sirius threw himself into a chair. "I do not trust Snape. No one should. How he hood winked Albus I'll never know."

"Sirius, I want you to listen to me." Remus took a seat opposite of him. "You lost thirteen years of your life. You're still thinking like a twenty-year-old man. Things came to light while you were imprisoned. Now that you have the house spotless, take the time to get caught up on all of the events that you missed."

"But Mooney, that's homework."

"No Sirius. That's life. That's being an adult."

"You're right, as usual," he said after a few minutes.

Remus smiled. "Trust in yourself Sirius but also trust in Harry. Despite all he's been through, he has a good head on his shoulders."

Sirius nodded.

"You also need to get over whatever grudge you have with Snape."

"But Snivellus is a Slytherin. They always have ulterior motives."

"Sirius, your godson almost became a Slytherin. What would you have done if he had been sorted there instead of Gryffindor? Would you have abandoned him to whatever fate _that_ would have caused?"

"Of course not! What kind of question is that?" demanded Sirius.

"You told me that Harry seemed hesitant to tell you that the hat almost put him there. Why do you think that was?"

Sirius looked up curiously. "He wasn't afraid of telling me that. He had no reason to be. He just didn't want ... oh ... no ... he couldn't possibly think that I would reject him because he had almost been put in Slytherin could he?"

"I don't know Sirius, you tell me. You're the one spouting off that all Slytherin's are evil. What if there comes a time in Harry's life that he may need to get close to Snape ... to form a bond with him. Would you suddenly abandon Harry if that happened?"

"Why in Merlin's name would Harry need to get close to Snape?" Sirius looked horrified.

"There could be a variety of reasons. Harry knows that Snape and his mother were friends, maybe he wants to get to know her through him. That, in itself, could form a bond between them."

"I can tell him about Lily if he wants me to, but he never asks. I would expect him to want to know more about James though. He does look just like him."

"Sirius, Harry is _not_ James. He is his own person. Looks are not everything."

Sirius put a hand through his hair, frustrated. "I don't trust Snape, not since I know for sure he was a Death Eater, but I suppose I could ease up on the 'Slytherin's are evil' bit. I just ... I want Harry to be safe ... and happy. Most of the Slytherin's that we graduated with did become Death Eater's. Between that and my own family, it's hard to see past what I've known all my life."

Remus stood up and put a hand on Sirius' shoulder briefly before heading to the kitchen. It was a start. Maybe the shock of Harry being afraid to confide in Sirius will make him grow up, or at least make him think before he speaks.

* * *

Harry was nervous. He was hiding in a stack of books in the library while waiting on Gabriella to arrive with her friends.

Twenty minutes later she did - right along side her brother and another Slytherin.

'This couldn't be easy, could it?' he thought sullenly.

Harry positioned himself out of sight of Theodore and Blaise but where Gabriella could still see him.

About ten minutes later, Harry managed to get her attention.

"Excuse me a minute," he heard her say.

"Good book Harry?" she whispered with a grin as she approached him.

"Very," he replied.

She snickered so Harry looked down and felt like an idiot. The book was upside down. To his horror, he then realized that it was a book on love potions (and why they were illegal). He fumbled it away.

She chuckled.

Harry looked around again and took a deep breath. "Gabriella, were you going to the Yule Ball?"

"No. No one's asked me yet and I can't go unless a 4th year or above does."

"Would you like to go with me then?"

She smiled. It done something funny to Harry's stomach the way her eyes lit up. "I would."

"Great." Harry let out a sigh of relief. He then saw worry flash through her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"My brother. He doesn't like you because you're a Gryffindor."

"I can handle him," said Harry with a frown.

"No. It's not that. He may write home and tell my father. He might make me go home for Christmas."

"I don't want to get you in trouble," said Harry.

"You know what? Don't worry about it. I'll come up with something. What color are your robes?"

"Er ... black with a green ... thing. My tie's also green." Harry felt like he was having trouble keeping up with the conversation.

She chuckled and nodded. Thankfully, she appeared to know what he was talking about. "Meet me here tomorrow after dinner."

"Alright. I'll see you later." Harry watched her walk off with a smile.

* * *

A/N: As you can see, I kinda, sorta veered from canon. *grins* Poor Harry just has no luck with girls. ;-) I thought Ron suggesting Gabriella meant a step of growth for the red headed boy. I re-worked Remus and Sirius' conversation like 5 different times and I think I finally got it the way that I wanted it to come out. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I really do hope that you all enjoyed it.

As for the Founder's Library ... I mean c'mon. There had to be books from that time still lurking around somewhere ... and if not, well there is now. *nods* However, as for finding it, while Harry may be the first to enter it in a while, he's not the only one to have ever found it, but that's in another chapter.

And Graven - You're review of chapter 68 had me in tears I was laughing so hard. My 87 year old grandfather that I take care of (who's very Hard of Hearing) actually came to see what I was laughing at.

I do want to thank everyone that leaves me reviews, especially on a regular basis. I really really do appreciate them. *leaves out cookies for everyone*

Up next, poor Severus is in for a shock. I need a couple of days to fix it. I'm not happy with one part of the Yule Ball but then it will be posted.

And as for you all wondering when Severus is just gonna come out and tell Harry, well I could tell *you* that .. but then I'd have to kill you. hehe. All I can ask is that you just keep being patient with me. *sets out more cookies as a diversion and flees*


	70. Christmas Day & The Yule Ball

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof!

* * *

Chapter 70

* * *

"Arrghhhh! Oomph!"

Harry heard laughing all around him. He removed the silencing charm from himself and glared up from the floor at his laughing dorm mates and the wide-eyed looking elf.

"Dobby! You scared me to death."

"I is sorry Harry Potter sir but I wanted to bring you your Christmas present. I is making it myself."

Harry glared at his snickering roommates again. They were all knee deep in half open Christmas presents already. (Seamus had some type of ribbon stuck in his hair that made Harry do a quick double take at him as he reached for his glasses.)

"Thank you Dobby. Here. I have something for you too." Harry reached into his trunk and pulled out a pair of socks that flashed many different colors. They were wrapped in red tissue paper.

Dobby started crying when Harry handed it to him. "But sir, there must have been a mistake. They are two of the same kinds!"

"Here you go Dobby. You can mix and match with this pair," Ron said tossing a pair of maroon socks at him.

"Oh! The great Wheazy has given Dobby socks too!"

Harry saw Ron turn red.

A few minutes after Dobby left, he dug into his own Christmas presents.

Harry got the usual things from Mrs. Weasley. Hermione had given him a homework planner - no doubt because he had been slacking lately. Ron had gotten him a Quidditch play book. Neville got him his own set of gobstones. Remus (co-signed with a paw print) had sent him a book titled Marauder's Play Book. Flipping through it, Harry saw a list of all of the Marauder's escapades - including pranks.

Revenge against the twins entered his mind along with an evil like cackle.

A _very_ evil like cackle.

Harry quickly got dressed after he decided that he would shower before he changed for the ball. As he was cleaning up the paper from around his bed, he spotted another present under the edge of it.

He picked it up and sat back down on the bed.

It didn't say who it was from, it just had his name on it.

When he opened the outer layer of wrapping, he saw that there was a letter folded up on top of a box. He quickly pulled it off to read it.

_Happy Christmas Harry._

_Your mother gave this to me many years ago and I think that it should be passed to you. It is imbued with protective spells and when you put it on, an invisibility charm will activate on it so no one else can see it._

The note wasn't signed.

Harry's eyebrows shot up in his hair line. He then carefully opened the box and saw an amulet.

As soon as he touched it, he felt the power it contained. The power reminded him of Dumbledore.

The jewel was red with black streaks through it. It was beautiful and wicked looking at the same time. Harry removed it from the case and saw that it was on a black chain.

Racking his brain, he couldn't figure out who it was from. Surely Sirius would have signed it if it would have been from him. He heard Ron coming back from the shower so he quickly put it on. A dizzying wave of magic washed over him but it only lasted half a second. Ron walked in as he was putting the note in his trunk.

"They have food downstairs but don't eat too much. The ball is supposed to have good food tonight."

Harry nodded, surprised that Ron said not to eat too much food. He contemplated on asking Ron if he felt alright but figured the red head would just hex if him if he did simply out of spite.

* * *

"You two need to read this. I'm off to go get ready."

"What is it?" asked Harry as he took the 3 pieces of parchment she handed over.

"Why are you going to get dressed so soon?" asked Ron at the same time.

"That is a list on how to treat a girl, especially at a dance. And I am going to go get dressed because it will take me a while to do so."

Harry's eyes widened at the list. He scanned through the papers. There had to be 200 things written down. Ron didn't even look at it.

"Uh ... Hermione. The ball doesn't start until six. It's only just two."

"It takes time to get ready Ron."

"Who are you going with?" yelled Ron as she headed up the stairs.

"Give it up Ron. We'll just have to find out tonight," Harry said as he glanced up from the paper's Hermione handed him.

"Who are you going with Harry?" asked Dean.

Harry grinned wryly. "You'll find that out later too."

Ron chuckled.

Harry and Gabriella had decided to keep it a secret and shock the school. Despite the attention he knew that this was going to bring his way, he was looking forward to it.

* * *

Severus was standing in the entrance way talking to Albus while making sure that no underage Slytherin students snuck into the ball.

"Please Albus. I find it highly improbable that Trankin could invent his way out of a room with four open doors."

Albus chuckled.

It was then that he saw his son come down the stairs with Ron Weasley, who had on some - odd - type of dress robes with a _lot_ of lace. (Though it did look like some of the lace had been cut off.) One of the Patil sisters was on Weasley's arm. However, his son appeared to be dateless.

Severus frowned. "I thought he was told he had to find a date?"

Albus turned to look at Harry. "Maybe he's taking someone from another house."

Severus nodded. It was plausible. He had seen Harry talking to girls from the other houses on occasion, especially the Hufflepuff, Susan Bones.

He then saw a third year Slytherin come up the stairs from the dungeons. He was surprised at who it was. Normally Ms. Nott didn't break very many rules (or hadn't gotten caught doing so) but he hadn't heard of her being invited to the ball.

* * *

Harry's heart started beating hard when he caught sight of Gabriella. She was normally a pretty girl but wow. Whatever she had done to herself made his mind go blank. It seemed that all that stuff that Hermione had wanted him to learn from those pieces of paper went right out of his head.

Gabriella had on a dark green dress that came to her ankles. It was sleeveless. The dress circled around the back of her neck holding it up. She also had on matching gloves that went up past her elbows. It reminded him of one of the old fashioned ballroom dresses that he had seen in pictures, especially with the way that her hair was fixed.

After he remembered how to put one foot in front of the other, he made his way to her through the crowd. As he got closer, he saw that along the edges of the dress was black lace. It was a nice effect.

"Miss Nott. You are not able to attend unless you were invited."

Harry stepped up to Snape and Dumbledore the same time that the Slytherin Head of House had said that. "Hello Headmaster, Professor Snape. Gabriella _was_ invited. She's my date tonight." He grinned at her and took her hand. "Y-You look very nice," he told her as he led her away from the utterly gob smacked potions professor and twinkling Headmaster.

* * *

Severus watched Harry walk away with Gabriella Nott.

"Breathe Severus," whispered Albus.

"He's taking a Slytherin. Why did I not know this? _How_ did I not know this? Did _you_ know about this?" he asked suspiciously. After all, the Headmaster always seemed to know everything.

"No, but I think it's wonderful. It looks like they kept it a secret to shock the whole school," Albus said, clearly amused.

Severus looked around the room and saw what Albus was talking about. Everyone was staring.

* * *

"This was so worth it," whispered Harry as they made their way over to Ron and Parvati.

"Careful Harry. Your Slytherin side is showing."

Harry grinned.

"Champions. Champions come to me," Harry heard McGonagall yell over the noise.

It was as they were lining up that Harry saw Hermione - with Victor Krum.

"Wow Hermione." She looked very different. In fact, he had almost not recognized her.

"Oh Harry! You look nice. So do you Gabriella."

"Thank you," she replied. She too, seemed shocked by Hermione's appearance.

At 6 pm, the doors to the Great Hall opened.

Since dinner was first, there were tables set out. Not the normal tables but round ones with a lot of chairs. Each table had candles on them. The ceiling was charmed to give off a snowy effect.

The Champions and their dates were to sit at the head table with the Headmasters of each school.

Harry had been about to sit down in his chair when he saw Krum pull out Hermione's chair. He quickly done the same for Gabriella, hoping that it looked like he was going to do that all along.

Her slight chuckle told him that he might have failed in looking natural.

During dinner, they talked about all kinds of things, including the shock factor going around the room.

"Think I should talk to your brother after dinner?"

"Nah. I can handle him. I'll just tell him I'm reconnoitering or some such."

"Her-my-oh-knee."

Harry turned towards where Hermione was trying to teach Krum how to properly say her name. She flushed at Harry when she realized he was looking at her.

As he took a bite of his steak (he had never had one before) he saw Ron. His friend looked flustered by something Parvati had said. Neville, sitting at the table beside of Ron's, looked like he was having a good time with Ginny.

"Do you like to fly?" Harry asked Gabriella, refocusing on her. (It had been one of the things on the first page of those papers Hermione had handed him. 'Focus on your date all night long.')

She nodded. "I play Quidditch with my brother and his friends all the time."

"What position?"

"Keeper mostly but I've played a beater as well."

* * *

Severus sat with most of the other professors. He discreetly kept an eye on Potter. He could not believe that Harry had taken a Slytherin tonight. That took guts.

And he couldn't have been more proud of him.

Granted, the boy would probably be vilified in the paper tomorrow but for now, he looked to be having a good time.

Occasionally he would see Harry glance around to make sure he was doing everything right. Severus idly wondered if he had ever ate a formal meal before now.

* * *

Harry watched the Headmaster stand. "Now that we are all full, it's time to start the dance portion." He waved his wand which pushed the tables to the side of the room. "If our Champions would take the floor, we'll begin the rest of the ball."

Harry helped Gabriella up (the way Cedric helped Cho) and took her hand to go to the dance floor.

"Just like I showed you," she whispered.

"Minus the books falling on my head I hope," whispered Harry back as he took her waist.

Harry had told Gabriella that he didn't have a clue how to dance so she had given him a couple of impromptu lessons in the library stacks. One of those lessons ended up with about 10 books falling on his head - and a lecture from Madam Pince.

Once the music started, he realized it wasn't as hard as he fretted. At least he wasn't stepping on her feet - yet.

Harry chuckled and nodded towards the corner of the room where Dumbledore was dancing with Madame Maxime. It was an odd sight since she dwarfed him by several feet.

After that dance, the Weird Sisters played a more up beat number. They danced to that as well.

"I'm going to get something to drink," said Harry after a couple more songs played. "I'll bring you back something."

Gabriella nodded.

The punch table was where the confrontation that Harry had been waiting to happen, happened. Well, some of the confrontation anyway.

"Potter."

"Nott."

"What are you doing asking my sister to the ball? I thought I told you to stay away from her."

"You did but this is between me and her and she honestly looks like she's having a good time to me."

"You better not go anywhere alone with her," Nott said after Malfoy whispered something in his ear.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"I mean it Potter. I'll be watching you."

"Fine. Excuse me." Harry carried two drinks back towards where Gabby was talking to her Ravenclaw friend that had also gotten invited.

"Harry!" he heard Ron exclaim.

"Wow Ron. What's the hurry?" (He noticed that Ron had ditched the outer layer of his dress robes already.)

"No hurry. Where's Hermione?"

"Not a clue. Probably in that mob in front of the stage."

"That was rather dirty of her to be fraternizing with the enemy like she is but maybe she'll tell you about Krum so that you can beat him in the next task."

"Uh. Ron. Krum isn't the enemy."

"Sure he is. He's from Durmstrang."

"Ron! There you are. Let's dance."

"Help me," mouthed Ron silently.

Harry just shook his head as he watched his best friend being dragged off.

"C'mon Harry. Let's dance."

He nodded as he handed her the drink.

At one point, during one of the more upbeat songs, Ron was dancing so exuberantly (a lot like the twins) that he had accidently hit Harry in the eye. Ron never noticed b/c of the insane amount of bodies around, but Harry did.

He stumbled out of the group and saw Gabriella standing off to the side laughing at him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but that was amusing."

Harry chuckled. "I'll get him back for it too if it actually turns black."

"I'm glad I chose to sit out that dance."

Harry quickly repaired his glasses and put them back on. "I wish I did." He grinned at her as he pointed out how Ron was dancing now. "It's official. He dances worse than the twins," he said laughing so hard that he thought he was going to break a rib.

Around 10pm, Harry and Gabriella went out to the courtyard to cool off. There were fairy lights in the bushes.

"It's snowing!"

Harry watched as she went out in it and twirled around. After a minute, he joined her.

Red faced from the cold, he didn't object when she took his hand. He suddenly became aware of the fact that they were alone. No students or teacher's were around that he could see. That still didn't stop him from half expecting her brother to hop out of some dark corner and hex him.

He got very, very nervous.

"I'm having a good time tonight."

"So am I," replied Harry honestly. And he truly was. He had expected this night to prove miserable.

"How many girls did you ask before you asked me?" she asked while grinning at him. With her heels on she was the same height he was.

Harry knew better than to answer that question. It had been one of the things on those list of papers. ('If she asks, do not tell her how many girls you asked before her.')

"Uh ... Well, I'd rather not answer that." He grinned at her sheepishly. "For all I know, you'll hex me if I tell you."

Gabriella laughed and pulled him down on a bench next to her. She suddenly turned serious. "You know, all of my life I'd heard about you. I'd heard about how you made the Dark Lord disappear and how you must be really powerful if you done it as a baby." She took a deep breath. "I had assumed that because of that you would be spoiled and selfish and a show off, plus an attention hog ... but you're not."

"That's not a bad thing is it?"

"It's not. I like how you're down to earth. Of course, the fact that you're not a dunderhead helps too."

Harry chuckled. "Ron calls me a bookworm sometimes because I read so much. Where I was raised by my aunt and uncle I didn't even know that I was a wizard until my 11th birthday. I feel like I've missed so much because of that. It's like I'm constantly playing catch up. I actually read a book that was given to me on wizarding traditions to make sure that there wasn't a specific custom I was supposed to use to ask girls out."

Gabriella laughed before she could stop herself then turned it into a chuckle when she realized that he was red in the face. "Sorry. I think its nice that you did that. So many of our traditions get lost over the years.

"Wait a minute," she said suspiciously. "You said you didn't even know you were wizard until you turned 11?"

"Nope."

"How did you learn to fly?"

"Evidently its natural talent," he said grinning.

She hit him in the arm. "So much for not being a show off."

They sat on the bench watching the stars through the light snow fall for a few minutes in comfortable silence. "My father was a Death Eater during the war," she said suddenly.

Harry stiffened slightly. That had been the last thing he would have ever expected to hear from her mouth.

"He says that the Dark Lord isn't dead and that he will come back. I know that he wishes for it all the time. He's always talking about a return to the 'old ways'."

"Oh?" Harry tried to keep his face neutral.

"Yeah. Despite what my father wishes, I hope that the Dark Lord stays gone. I've heard stories about what it was like back then. Even if you were on his side, evidently it was still not a nice experience." She sighed. "Father always practices whatever Dark Arts he can get away with. He says it helps keep him in shape for when the Dark Lord does return. I think he just likes to perform them for the power it gives him."

Harry had a horrifying thought. "Does he make you participate in them?" He caught her gaze.

"No. I know a lot about them but I've never done any."

"Why tell me this?"

"Because you're easy to talk to, because you listen, and because I wanted you to know. I'd hate for it to be a surprise later."

He smiled at her. Suddenly they were moving in closer and closer. Just as Harry started to realize that they were going to kiss (what a topic to kiss after, the back of his mind commented), they heard a noise.

They jerked away at the same time, both blushing. Harry glanced around and saw Snape at the other end of the courtyard. Karkaroff was heading towards the potion's master. From his position, he thought that Snape looked more than a little annoyed over something. "Maybe we should go inside. I'd hate for your brother to come looking for me to threaten me some more," he said grinning.

She chuckled.

However as Harry went to stand, he noticed something in Gabriella's hair.

It was a lady bug ... and it had Rita Skeeter's glowy thing on it.

A feral grin came over him.

"Can you keep a secret," he said slyly, hoping that the beetle wouldn't fly away if it heard that Harry was about to offer up a secret of his own.

She nodded.

"I need you to hold still before I can tell you," he whispered, in what he hoped was a secretive tone.

He saw her confusion but was pleased she didn't move. He looked around and saw a couple of cups lying next to the bench. Picking one up, he reached over and very swiftly grabbed the beetle. He then put it in the cup.

"C'mon. I need to go see the Headmaster. I think he would want to see this."

"The beetle?"

"It's not just a beetle. It's an animagus that's not registered - if I remember correctly from my paper last year."

He noticed that Gabriella's eyes lit up in mischief. "Is that beetle black mail-able?"

"Oh yes, but given that she just heard our _entire_ conversation, the Headmaster can control the leash better than I can." Harry saw Gabriella pale some.

They entered the ballroom. It looked like some had left for the night but there were still a few couples dancing.

"Professor Dumbledore, can I have a quick word?"

"Certainly my boy. What can I do for you?"

"I appear to have caught a beetle that's not a beetle." He handed over the cup. "I don't remember seeing her on the registry list when I wrote my paper for Professor McGonagall last year."

Harry saw the Headmaster's eyes widen as he looked in the cup. "My ... my."

"She just overheard some stuff that was not meant to be heard and I figured you didn't want your students involved in a blackmail scheme ..."

"Blackmail?"

Harry almost laughed at the Headmaster's expression.

"No. Not at all. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. You two go enjoy the rest of the ball. Our beetle will be taken care of."

Harry grinned and walked off.

"He looked like he enjoyed that," she pointed out.

"I think he did."

"Can we go back out to the courtyard? It's still a little warm in here."

Harry looked around and nodded. He thought it was a comfortable temperature in the room but seemed to sense that she wanted them to be alone together.

The music filtered outside.

"Dance in the snow with me," she said grinning.

Bewildered, Harry danced with her in the snow to the slow song playing. Why she wanted to dance in the snow was beyond his understanding.

Towards the end of the song they heard a throat clear. "Mr. Potter. Ms. Nott. You two need to be inside."

Again they jumped apart. It was Professor Snape. Harry felt like he would rather have been caught by McGonagall than by him.

As they went back in, he glared at her. "You did that on purpose."

"Nope," she said cheekily. "I certainly didn't want to be caught by my head of house, even though we really weren't doing anything."

"Let's get something to drink," he said as he eyed her funny.

They sat at a table and talked for the rest of the night. (Harry did notice some glares being sent his way by Theodore Nott a few times.)

Near midnight Harry looked around. "I wonder where Ron and Hermione are?" He was having such a good time that he had practically forgotten about them. In fact, the only reason he remembered at that moment was his eye started throbbing again.

"Hmm. I've not seen them for a while actually."

Harry looked over and saw Neville and Ginny dancing. Both looked tired.

"Here. You'll need this for tomorrow," she said handing over a bracelet from her wrist.

"I will?"

"Yep. You'll have to return it to me, unless you don't want to see me again."

Harry was confused. "I need an excuse to see you?"

"I take back what I said earlier. You are a dunderhead."

"I know I am," Harry admitted freely.

She put the bracelet back on. "I'll make the next move."

Harry squeaked and flushed a deep crimson red, which caused her to laugh.

"And that's the end of the Yule Ball. Everyone make your way to your respective dorms."

Harry walked Gabriella to the stairs that would go to the Slytherin dorms. "Well, uh, I had a good time tonight."

"So did I. I'll see you tomorrow."

Harry nodded and then summoning his Gryffindor courage, leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "G'nite," he mumbled again.

"Night."

Harry watched her walk down the steps then turned to head up to the Tower.

When he entered the tower, it was like he walked into a war zone.

"You ruin everything Ronald!"

"No I don't."

"Tell you what. Next time there's a ball, pluck up the courage and ask me yourself and _not_ as a last resort."

"Well you just totally missed the point."

Harry then heard two slamming doors.

"I take it I missed something," said Harry.

Unfortunately that drew everyone's attention toward him.

"Harry, how could you go with a Slytherin?"

"She might be a spy!"

"You're not really considering moving down there to be with her are you?"

"Ugh," groaned Harry. "Not that I really need to explain myself but I took her because she's nice. Not all Slytherin's are evil."

As soon as he said that, he headed up the stairs to the dorms.

"Where were you all night mate?"

"The ball," said Harry as he started pulling off his dress robes.

"I didn't see you a lot."

"I was dancing for most of it, until you elbowed me in the eye. Thanks for that by the way. I was outside for the rest."

"With the Slytherin girl?" Ron completely ignored the fact that he had elbowed Harry.

"Yeah." Who else would he have been with? Ron was daft sometimes.

"She's probably just using you. At least you won't have to see her anymore."

Harry turned around to face his best friend. "Ron, what's your problem? You're the one that suggested I go with her. I had a good time tonight. I don't want to fight before we go to bed."

"I'm sorry, mate. Parvati talked my ears off all night. It just put me in a foul mood. Maybe sleep will help."

Harry desperately hoped so.

* * *

Severus sat staring at the flames in his fireplace. He had discreetly followed Potter around all night, keeping an eye on him and Ms. Nott. He had been pleased that nothing improper happened. Of course, both times that they had tried to kiss, (seriously, Severus knew where kissing could lead), he had managed to cause a diversion of some sort.

As he took a drink of his tea, he again let his thoughts wander back to what all he learned tonight. Severus had known for a while now that Harry had a caring streak in him that was too long to measure. It was shown again tonight when he had been more concerned with the fact that Ms. Nott's father might make her join in the Dark Arts' rituals than the fact that she had revealed that her father had been a Death Eater.

And Harry, he had handled _that_ news with a lot more grace than he had thought the boy possessed.

At one point Igor had managed to catch him so he had lost track of his son for a while. When he had found him again, he was dancing out in the snow.

That's all they both needed ... to get sick from the cold weather. (The fact that they had been about to kiss again when he had made his presence known had been purely coincidental.)

As he stood up to prepare for bed, he wondered if they would continue seeing each other, and if they did, what that would mean for everyone.

Severus knew that he would need to keep an eye on both his son and Miss Nott. Hopefully neither of them would get hurt because of this.

* * *

A/N: Another long chapter! Yay! I hope you all enjoyed it. I know that writing it was fun. Poor Severus ... won't even let his son get his first real kiss. *snicker* I decided to take care of the Rita Skeeter problem this way. The idea of Harry catching her as she eaves-dropped on his and Gabriella's conversation appealed to me. Besides, in most stories, Dumbledore hardly ever get's to be involved in blackmail or revenge schemes. However, this incident is going to make the Headmaster a bit more curious about Harry's abilities.

Up next, Harry and Malfoy have a chat and poor Hermione is going to see that sometimes, not thinking outside of the box is going to cause her some troubles. Also, Harry and Severus have a lil chat too! *grins mischievously* Right now the length of the next chapter seems to be too long so I have some serious editing to do to it. I imagine I'll have it up in a couple of days.


	71. Waking Dreams and Potion Lessons

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof! I just like to play with them. *nods*

* * *

Chapter 71

* * *

_January 2, 1995_

_I've still not figured out my egg. February 25__th__ looks a lot closer on this side of Christmas. I can feel the panic settling in now._

_I wrote a letter to Sirius telling him about me taking Gabriella to the ball. It's a good thing I did because it was in the Prophet the next day. I just hope he's not mad at me. _

_I did notice that there wasn't any article by Rita Skeeter in the paper. It makes me wonder what Dumbledore did with her._

_I think Snape is the one that sent me the necklace. He's the only one that would be that cryptic about sending me something. It makes me feel strange that he and my mom were friends and that he gave me a necklace belonging to her. He's still not told me whatever it was that he started to tell me back in October. I wonder if he's forgotten all about it. I suppose I could ask him. I figure the worst thing he could do is throw me out of his office._

_Gabby has become my girlfriend. Hermione says that she has at any rate. I don't understand all the giggling though. I've never noticed it before, but it seems to be all girls do._

_Strangely enough, Theodore Nott has left me alone. I'm gonna have to corner Malfoy and find out what he whispered to him at the ball. My guess is that he's the one that got him to back off … and I want to know why. Ron said that it was a rite of passage being an overprotective big brother. Neville told me that Ron had cornered him before the ball and threatened to do horrible things to him if he so much as glanced at Ginny wrong._

_Ron has calmed down since Christmas night. He and Hermione have an unspoken agreement to not mention the after math of the dance again. Unfortunately, neither would tell me how the fight got started. I suppose as long as they're not fighting, I shouldn't worry about it._

_-Harry_

* * *

Severus had just fallen asleep when he was alerted that the wards in his potions cupboard were broken. (Unfortunately he couldn't put stronger wards on the cupboard because the magic would interfere with the ingredients.)

Grabbing his robe, he headed straight there and found Moody rummaging around again. This was the 4th time he'd caught the man in there.

"Moody! Remove yourself at once!"

"Go back to bed Snape."

"That is my property and you will remove yourself from it. Now!"

"I'm looking for dark artifacts with the Headmaster's permission."

"At 1am?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course. Can't give you time to hide anything."

"You are off your rocker. As I have explained to you previously, the Headmaster happens to trust me. Now remove yourself from my ingredient cupboard or I'm going to go wake him up so he can tell you that personally."

"I'm going. Just remember Snape. Once placed, those spots don't come off. I'll always be watching you."

After Moody walked away, Severus replaced the wards on the ingredient cupboard and headed back to bed.

Moody has lost it. The man _knew_ which side Snape had been on during the war but now he's acting as if he didn't remember anything at all. He supposed it was just a matter of time before the curses started flying.

* * *

"It's important Ron."

"Alright. When did you want me to distract Crabbe and Goyle?"

"After dinner. I'll head down and wait on Malfoy."

Ron scowled. "I don't like you meeting with him on your own."

"I need to know," whispered Harry, "and besides, I'll be fine. How are you going to distract them?"

"How else?" Ron shrugged as he grinned slightly. "I'm going to use food. I figure I can buy you 10 minutes of time."

Harry nodded. That's all he needed.

Hermione swung around in her chair. "What are you two whispering about back there?"

"Nothing," they both answered simultaneously, while trying to look innocent. Harry suspected that they both looked like they had just been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

* * *

"Malfoy," hissed Harry quietly.

Malfoy looked around and saw Harry standing in a darkened corner. "What are you doing lurking around the Slytherin corridor?"

"Waiting on Gabriella. I have a question for you."

"To have a question would mean that you have the ability to think. It's my understanding that you can't do that very well."

Harry simply rolled his eyes while glancing around to make sure Crabbe and Goyle didn't come blundering by. "What did you tell Nott to make him back off of me? And the rest of the Slytherin house for that matter."

To his consternation, Malfoy laughed.

"You mean you don't know?"

"I wouldn't ask if I did."

"Honestly Potter. You've got most of them so confused they don't know if they're coming or going. After all, a Gryffindor does not date a Slytherin. Especially if that Gryffindor is the boy-who-lived. Between that and the rumor going around that the sorting hat actually wanted to place you in Slytherin …"

Malfoy paused … no doubt wanting confirmation. When Harry didn't give any indication one way or another, he continued speaking.

"Well, most don't know how to take you now. You have successfully out Slytherin'd the whole house of Slytherin. You must be proud," sneered the blonde boy.

"And what did you say to Nott at the ball? Other than some glares, and a ruined potion or two, he's largely left me alone."

Malfoy shrugged. "I told him that when you break her heart later, he'll have a reason to kill you."

"Thanks a lot," Harry said frowning.

"My pleasure Potty."

Harry pushed himself off the wall and went to head back upstairs when Malfoy stopped him.

"I thought you were waiting on Gabriella?"

Harry smirked. "I seem to have just remembered that she's serving detention. Later Malfoy." As he walked away, he heard the blonde grumble to himself.

When he reached the last set of stairs that led to the main floor he passed Crabbe and Goyle, who were indeed stuffing their face as they walked by. They didn't even seem to notice him.

* * *

Harry was looking at the egg. Every time he opened it, it wailed something horrible.

There was some form of writing along the edge of one side and the rest of it was decorated with circles and what looked like plants.

The writing looked like they could be a form of ancient runes but it wasn't something he had studied yet.

Harry carefully sat the egg on his bed and rummaged through his desk for his ancient runes dictionary.

After an hour of searching through the dictionary, he gave up. He could only figure out one word. The last word was open. It didn't exactly help him any.

Giving up for the day, he picked up his book bag and headed down to the common room.

* * *

"Hey Harry."

Harry looked up and smiled. "Hey Gabby. Pull up a chair."

"Whatcha working on?"

"Transfiguration essay."

He snickered at the face she made. Evidently she wasn't any better at it than he was.

"Harry can you read this and see if it makes sense?" Neville asked pointing to whatever essay he was writing.

"Sure." Harry took it and looked it over. "It makes sense but you might want to re-read the section on boiling the pus."

"Ew," the entire table said at the same time, earning them a glare from Madam Pince.

About an hour after Gabriella had joined them, while Harry had been semi-working on his homework, he had his first version of a waking dream.

It was like Voldemort was mad over something. There were curses flying everywhere. Wormtail was huddled in the corner trembling.

"Master we can move the plan up. We can take the boy now."

"No Wormtail. I do not yet have the strength to survive the ritual and if we take the boy now, it just increases the odds that he could be rescued. Send a letter to our friend and tell him that I demand better."

When Harry opened his eyes, he was on the floor throwing up.

'Honestly. I don't get enough of this at night?' he thought.

"Harry, are you alright?" he heard around the ringing in his ears.

Harry nodded as he sat up. Force of habit made him reach up and touch the scar. 'At least it's not bleeding.'

"Harry, you _need_ to go see Madam Pomphrey," Hermione said sternly as she vanished where he got sick.

"C'mon. I'll walk you there," Gabriella whispered as she helped him up.

Harry warily nodded. After a quick stop at the boy's bathroom to rinse his mouth out, he rejoined her in the hallway.

"What was that about?"

Harry didn't want to lie to her so he opted for the half truth. "I get bad headaches sometimes, sort of like having a migraine. All the pain happens at once and it causes me to get sick. Unfortunately I get about a 2 second warning when they happen and uh ... it normally happens at night. Thankfully, they don't last long. I have a potion in my trunk so I don't need to go to the infirmary."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Besides, Madam Pomphrey might decide to keep me. I'm sorry if that freaked you out."

"It takes a lot to freak me out. It just worried me is all, especially when Ron and Hermione didn't do anything to help you at first."

"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly, then added, "they've seen me get those headaches before. There's nothing that can be done except to wait it out. Normally I feel better after I sick up."

She made a funny face at that and Harry figured that he had probably shared too much information, again. They walked the rest of the way to the tower in comfortable silence.

Since neither of them knew how cross house visitation worked, she waited on the steps while Harry ran upstairs to splash water on his face and to supposedly take a potion. What he really done was scribble out what he remembered on a note and gave it to his waiting owl (as if she knew that she was needed) to take to the Headmaster.

"Where do you wanna go?" Harry asked as he exited the portrait. He didn't want to go back to the library and study anymore that evening, especially since Hermione would realize that he didn't go to the infirmary.

"The Great Hall for a game of chess." Clearly Gabriella didn't want to study anymore either.

"You and Ron should play. I'm pants at chess."

"I know. It's always fun beating you."

They hurried off towards the Great Hall only to be ambushed by Moody.

"You two slow down. Never know what's around the corner. Constant vigilance!"

"Alright Professor," they both said.

* * *

"We've been dealing with poisons for a while so now we're going to deal with antidotes. I hope you all have done your reading, because if you haven't, then today's grade shall be obtained very easily." Snape said as he swooped in the room. "You will fail.

"I shall give you all a scenario in which you are to brew the potion. You must stay within the parameter's of the scenario or you will also fail."

The class sat up straighter, clearly intrigued by this idea.

"Let's say that you were all pricked by a howling thorn in enemy territory. You look around and see the ingredients you need to make the antidote but there is a problem.

"Any magic use will bring the enemy straight to your location. Assuming any of you could apparate, there are anti-apparation barriers up. A port key cannot be used either," he said, clearly hoping to not give anyone any bright idea's by not brewing the potion.

"As I'm _sure_ you remember, the howling thorn poison will start to take effect fully in 45 minutes. This is a pass / fail practical. I will erect barriers up in a second to ensure that no cheating occurs."

Harry watched as Snape waved his wand causing barriers to be immediately erected around everyone's work station.

"Begin. Now."

Harry looked down at the six ingredients in front of him. At least two needed to be heated for the antidote. One he could use as a base. During his mental intake of ingredients, he paused on the last one.

It was a carafax leaf, at least he thought it was a carafax leaf. If it was, it would only aggravate the poison, so Harry pushed it away.

'Okay. Well, I probably wouldn't have a cauldron in enemy territory,' he mused so he pushed it away as well.

About 10 minutes into the process he heard an alarm.

"I said no magic, Mr. Crabbe."

As Harry was using his finger to mush the paste together, hoping that his innate magic wouldn't set off the alarm – and that it would be enough to bind the ingredients together, he heard Hermione huff. He was tempted to peek to see what had her frustrated because it didn't happen often but knew that Snape would fail him in an instant.

Harry picked up the final ingredient and blew hot air into it while letting the juice it excreted when heated hit his salve.

He had just finished mixing it all together when Snape called out that it was time to stop.

Harry watched as he took down the barriers.

"Any of you that used a cauldron failed."

There were immediate cries of outrage because that had been 3/4ths of the class.

"But sir," protested Seamus.

"Do you normally carry your cauldron with you, Mr. Finnigan?"

"No," he muttered.

"I thought not."

There were 5 people left that had not used the cauldron.

"Ms. Granger and Mr. Nott, you both failed because I saw smoke coming from your locations."

"But sir, we needed heat for two of the ingredients."

"While I am impressed that you both had managed to get a fire going without the use of magic, you gave your location away to the enemy. Even if you did manage to escape them again, you would not have had time to re-brew the antidote."

"Sir," protested Hermione. "How else were we going to get the precise amount of juice from the ingredients needed for the antidote?"

"Parkinson, tell Ms. Granger how you obtained the juice you needed."

"I held the ingredient in between my hands to heat it up and then blew hot air on it. It put out the right amount of juice when I done so," she said with a superior smirk.

"But sir, that's not how the book said to do it. It said that you had to -"

"I'm fully aware of what the book said, Ms. Granger. You cannot always trust in books, especially when you are dealing with a scenario like that one I gave you at the beginning of class."

"Not trust in books?" she screeched.

"Yes, using a fire would have allowed for proper measurement of the ingredients, but even a crudely put together antidote for the howling thorn poison would have worked, buying you some time to get out of enemy territory and someplace where you could properly make it."

Harry heard Hermione huff. He made a mental note to avoid her later. The last time Snape told her that she was wrong, she flew into a rage, actually hexing him and Ron when they had tried to calm her down.

Harry then watched as Snape looked closer at Malfoy's paste, Parkinson's paste, and then finally his paste.

"You have to be kidding me," Snape said as he walked away from Harry's antidote. "Merlin save me from dunderheads and idiots. You all take your O.W.L.'s next year and as long as you all do not read, nor think outside of what's written and _use_ your brain, only Potter, as much as it disgusts me to say, will pass them.

"Malfoy and Parkinson, you both managed to poison yourself even further."

Harry startled. Snape had given him a compliment – if a person squinted really hard. Well, that is until he spoke up again. "Stay after class Potter. I want to know how you cheated … and I _will_ find out." The threat in that was quite clear.

After class let out, Harry shuffled to the front of the room. He flinched when Snape slammed the door using his wand.

"How did you know that a carafax leaf would cause the poison to speed up?"

"I read it, sir."

"Not in your potions textbook you didn't."

Harry was instantly suspicious. "I'm confused, sir. Everyone was supposed to fail?"

Snape nodded. "It was an exercise to get you all to start thinking outside of what is written in the book. No one in 5 years has brewed that potion correctly for one reason or another."

"Sir, I didn't cheat. I swear. I have other potion books. I must have read it in there."

"I'm aware that you didn't cheat Potter. You will receive a pass for the day, but do not tell anyone."

Wide eyed, Harry nodded. "Sir ..." he hesitated briefly before plowing on with his question. "Were you the one that sent me my anonymous present at Christmas?" Harry reached up and fiddled with his invisible necklace.

"I'm afraid I do not know to what you are referring."

"Oh. It's just that you told me before that you and my mom were friends …"

Harry watched as Snape circled around to the front of his desk and sat on it. "We were. We were practically inseparable. You should know that she would have been proud of you for not allowing prejudices against the other houses stop you from taking Miss Nott to the ball."

"You think so?"

"I do. They certainly didn't stop us from going to dances together while we were in school. She would be pleased to know that you are following in her footsteps in that regard."

Harry's eyes went comically wide. "Professor, a couple of months ago you wanted to tell me something but was interrupted because Malfoy had come knocking on the door. What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"I ..." Severus paused. Should he tell Potter now? Was this a sign that it time to do so. They still hadn't figured out how his name had gotten into the goblet to start with. He glanced at Harry who was patiently looking at him.

"Potter ... Harry. What I have to tell you is very important, but you will not be able to tell anyone, not even your friends. I'm ... unsure as to whether you can actually handle the knowledge of what I need to say. I'm afraid that it might distract you from the remaining two tasks in this tournament. People have died in the past while participating and I would prefer that it wasn't you. I need you to keep your wits about you."

Harry frowned. What in the name of Merlin would make Snape think he couldn't handle whatever the man had to tell him. "I won't let it distract me and if I can't tell anyone, then I won't. I do know how to keep a secret."

Snape chuckled, which surprised Harry. "Trust me, Harry. With what I have to tell you, it will distract you a great deal. In fact, I fully expect for there to be explosions of some sort. No. Not right now. At the end of the year, after these tasks are finished, I give you my word that I will tell you then."

Harry ran his hand through his hair with frustration but nodded.

"Now, it's time for dinner and you have 3 essay's to write. And Potter ..."

Harry looked up from picking up his book bag.

"Let's keep this entire conversation between us."

Harry grinned wryly. "No one would believe me anyway, sir."

* * *

When Harry left the classroom, Severus returned to his chair.

'Maybe … just maybe I can do this father thing after all,' he thought. And if Harry does indeed keep what he just imparted to the boy a secret, then surely he'd be able to keep their relationship a secret as well. Hopefully he'd be able to finally tell the boy the truth at the end of the year. Of course, if Albus ever figured out how his name ended up in the Goblet to start with, he could even tell Harry the truth sooner than that.

And for the very first time, that thought didn't terrify him.

* * *

A/N: Step away from the pitchforks and other sharp objects! *hides behind a tree*

First of all, I do not hate Hermione, which I'm sure a lot of you will think that I do from this chapter and one of the previous ones. She's actually one of my favorite character's from the book. She would have also passed Snape's little scenario had she not built the fire because she also didn't use the carafax leaf. Snape had been looking for something in everyone's work to fail them. Unfortunately, he wasn't counting on Harry to pass. It was like he said, he's trying to get everyone to learn to think outside of what's written. (Growing up, one of my best friends had a photographic memory. She could read something then never have to look at it again. Her papers were full of facts and just basically said what the books had said, just worded differently. When it came to applying herself to things where she had to do something different from what a book said, she had difficulty. So I'm loosely basing what I know of people with photographic memories off of her - and, yes, I do realize that not everyone is like that.) =)

Second of all, I needed Snape to finally come to terms with being Harry's father ... and I didn't see any better way of doing so than letting Snape see a bit of himself (and Lily) in his potion making skills. Now that that's out of the way, there appears to be just the obstacle of making sure that good old Lord Moldy-Pants isn't responsible for Harry's name finding it's way into the goblet. I will say that there is another opportunity to tell Harry the truth before the third task. ;-) And as you just saw ... the thought of telling Harry the truth doesn't terrify Snape anymore. *carefully peeks out from around the tree to see if the sharp objects were dropped*

I would also like to thank everyone for the great reviews! I didn't expect Gabriella to be received on such a good note. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that she was. =) And first time reviewer's are always welcome. I like reviews. =)

Up next, Harry get's suspicious about what Snape is wanting to tell him, so he sends a letter to Remus. *shifty eyed* I do have a Valentine's Day scene written and I'm debating on how long to make the next chapter. If I decide to make it go all the way up until the first task, then it will be included. If I don't, then it will be in the one after that. It just depends on how long I want to make it. I will admit to procrastinating posting this chapter because of all the things you all might throw at me, but I should have the next one up in a couple of days. I just need to decide on how long it's going to be.

*Leaves out all kinds of treats and shiny things to keep everyone occupied and flee's again* =)


	72. Task Preparation and Valentine's Day

A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any character thereof! I just like to play with them! *grins*

* * *

Chapter 72

* * *

_Remus,_

_I have a question for you. Snape has been trying to tell me something all year long. I think I've figured out what he wants to tell me and I wanted to know from you if it's true. Were he and my mom more than friends? He told me that they knew each other before Hogwarts and when he talks about her, he kind of goes all goopy eyed, like he's remembering her._

_If this is what he's been wanting to tell me, why does he think that it'll upset me so badly that I won't be able to do these tasks? Why does he want me to know that at all? He's been ... nicer (well, for him anyway) to me since last year. Does he think that because they dated (if they did, that is) that he has to try to protect me or something? He's just gone all strange. He promised to tell me whatever it is at the end of the year. I promise to still act surprised if what he does tell me is that they dated, but some kind of warning would be nice._

_So did they date?_

_Oh, and please don't tell Sirius about this letter. There was no way I'd be able to ask him. I can only imagine the type of letter that he would send back to me. Don't tell Snape I wrote you either. He might get upset and not tell me whatever it is at all. I hope where ever you are that you're safe._

_Love,_

_Harry_

Remus looked down at the letter in his hand and couldn't help but chuckle. _'Some kind of warning would be nice,_' he re-read to himself. Harry was going to be shocked when Severus finally tells him the truth.

'Of course, when Harry realizes that I've known all of his life that he had a living relative, he is liable to hate me,' he thought painfully. Hopefully, when the truth comes out, Harry will give him a chance to explain.

This letter, however, does put him in a small bind. He supposed that it wouldn't hurt to admit that Severus and Lily dated. In fact, it might even make Severus' job of telling Harry even easier.

He got up and headed to his writing desk to pen a reply.

* * *

"What if they're not random circles?" he asked himself out loud as he stared at the golden egg.

Harry was procrastinating his homework and Gabriella was in her study group so he had some time on his hands.

'What if they're bubbles?' he mused to himself.

Harry ran down the stairs. "Hermione can I borrow your ancient runes dictionary?"

"You have the same one I do," she said over a mountain of books.

"No. Not the one for class. The one that you got for extra reading."

"Sure. Hold on. I'll go get it."

"I thought you were trying to figure out your egg, mate? I heard it wailing a minute ago."

"I am," Harry said to Ron.

She came back down the stairs with a thick book.

"Thanks."

It took Harry about 30 minutes before he deciphered another word.

Merge.

Harry laid back down on the bed and tried to figure out what went with the word merge.

Suddenly he sat straight up. Submerge.

Harry took his egg and went to the small bathroom upstairs and looked at the sink.

It wasn't deep enough.

He would need to use one of the tubs in the main shower area.

Deciding that it would look odd if he carried his egg into the bathroom, he figured he would wait until everyone went to bed.

* * *

Later that night, Harry wrapped his robe around himself, grabbed his egg, and headed to the bathroom.

He'd used the tub before. He liked to play with the different color waters – not that he would ever admit that to anyone of course. These tubs weren't like the muggle tubs that his aunt and uncle had. They were like mini-swimming pools, deep enough that if he stood in the middle of it, the water went up to his neck.

After stripping, Harry climbed in and pulled the curtain around the tub. He then pushed the egg under the water and opened it.

At least it didn't wail.

"You've got to put your head under the water to listen to it."

Harry startled so badly that he thought he'd had a heart attack. As a result, 3 mirrors cracked from his accidental magic.

"Myrtle. Dear sweet Merlin don't sneak up on me like that." He picked up his wand and fixed the mirror's quickly.

She giggled. "Sorry Harry."

"I have to put my head under the water?"

"That's what the handsome boy Cedric did."

Harry, feeling really self conscious, asked "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," she said coyly. "You never come to see me any more."

"I'm sorry Myrtle. I've been … uh … busy. I always have lots of homework."

"Hmph. Not too busy for your girlfriend. Everyone _loves_ to gossip about you and her."

Harry groaned. "So I have to listen to it with my head under the water?" asked Harry again, hoping the diversionary tactic would work.

She nodded.

Harry took a deep breath, then placed his head under the water. He then re-opened the egg.

The voices were odd but at least they were clear.

"_Come seek us where our voices sound,  
We cannot sing above the ground.  
And while you're searching, ponder this:  
We've taken what you'll sorely miss.  
An hour long you'll have to look,  
And to recover what we took.  
But past an hour – the prospect's black,  
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."_

He came back up. Myrtle laughed at him because of the bubbles in his hair.

After listening to it a couple more times, Harry had it memorized.

"Uh, Myrtle, can you please turn around so that I can climb out?"

"But Harry," she protested.

"Please?"

"Okay," she said, really disappointed.

As soon as Harry made sure she wasn't looking, he climbed out and pulled on his robe. "It was uh ... nice to see you again Myrtle."

"Come and visit me sometime, Harry."

"Er, sure. G'nite."

Harry watched her zoom up the nearest pipe. He was forever going to be paranoid in the shower because of this experience.

Once in his room, he stored his egg and quietly sat at his desk. There he copied the poem down.

'_Come seek us where our voices sound,  
We cannot sing above the ground.'_

'Since I had to put the egg underwater, that means that it's an underwater task,' he thought. He then groaned.

He couldn't swim. His aunt and uncle had never bothered to give him lessons, no doubt hoping that if he entered the water, he'd drown.

'What has a voice under the water?' he wondered.

Harry's mind flashed back to the project that him and Susan had worked on together. They had discovered that there were mer-people living in the Black Lake.

"And they probably live at the main bottom," he whispered.

This was _really_ going to suck.

The rest of the riddle was clear. The mermaids were going to take something from him and he had an hour to get it back or he would lose it forever.

"Bloody marvelous," he quietly groaned to himself.

Deciding he would ponder the solution in the morning, he went to bed.

* * *

"You sure are spending a lot of time in the library," pointed out Gabriella one evening as they walked towards dinner together.

"I know and I'm sorry. The second task is in two and a half weeks and I've still not figured out the 'how' yet."

She grabbed his hand. "It's alright. I just wish I could spend more time with you."

He smiled at her. "Were you still going to the library with me after dinner?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I need you to help me with my charms paper if you have time. I promise to find some way to reward you later."

Harry's face turned blood red as he sent a bashful smile towards her. Behind them, Ron made a random gagging noise.

Once they entered the Great Hall, they separated. Most of the gossip, it seemed anyway (despite what Myrtle had said), had died down about them being together.

It helped that there had been nothing in the paper other than a photo of each of the Champions and their dates.

It seemed that Dumbledore was keeping a _very _tight leash on Rita Skeeter.

Speaking of, he had yet to tell Ron and Hermione about that.

Sirius seemed to take the news of his dating a Slytherin well. A lot better than he thought his god father would … that's for sure. He suspected that Remus had a hand in that.

Harry glanced up and down the table as he ate. He needed a stress reliever and had just the one in mind – straight out of the Marauder's Playbook.

He slid his wand in his hand and tapped the underside of the table twice as he softly said, "_Cibiliquis Tabuflect._"

To his amusement, the twins were the first one to experience the change. The spell caused all of the solid food to act like liquids and the liquids to turn into solids.

"What the –"

Up the table, he saw a 7th year try to cut into his pork chop, but it wouldn't since it was a liquid … still in a solid shape.

Chaos ensued a couple seconds later. Everyone thought it was very funny once they realized what had happened.

And to everyone's consternation, the twins didn't claim credit for it.

Hermione gave him a knowing look and Harry suspected Ron heard him whisper it, which was confirmed 2 seconds later when Ron leaned over and said, "Nice Harry but change it back. I'm hungry."

Laughing, Harry discreetly reversed the spell, which to his amusement again, caused a lot more confusion amongst his fellow Gryffindor's, especially since the twins had been playing with the solidified pumpkin juice when it turned back into a liquid.

* * *

Harry sat staring at Remus' reply. Hedwig had brought it about two minutes ago.

'_I don't know when they started dating officially, but they were always together from their first year until their sixth.'_

So his mother and Snape had dated. Surprisingly, the notion that Snape and his mother were together didn't bother him that much, but he suspected that it was purely because he had braced himself for such an answer.

'_This is most likely not what he's going to tell you.'_

This, more than anything, made Harry frown. It would appear that everyone was in on this big secret but him. Of course, if that was not what Snape was going to tell him, what on earth was it?

He was beginning to hate mysteries.

However, Harry _would_ make Snape stick to his word and tell him at the end of the year.

"C'mon Harry! We're going to be late for breakfast!"

"Coming Ron." Harry quickly stored the letter in his trunk and followed his best friend down to the Great Hall.

* * *

Harry had a dilemma, which was the reason he was currently looking for one of his best friends. He found her in the common room sewing a hat together. (Sadly, she had yet to listen to reason about the house elves, but Harry was eternally hopeful that he would get through to her one day. He didn't have the heart to tell her that Dobby was the one taking the pieces of clothes she left lying around.)

"Hermione, I need your help."

"Oh?"

"Well, it's just that you're a girl … and you know what girls like …"

Hermione just shook her head, a smile playing at her lips. It only took Harry and Ron 4 years to realize that she was a girl. "What is it Harry?"

"I don't know what to get Gabby for Valentine's Day … and her birthday is February 16th too."

"What does she like?"

"All kinds of stuff. Quidditch, flying, reading … uhh .. I know she likes roses … she mentioned it once. She doesn't like chocolate. It makes her sick."

Hermione held up a hand after about 10 minutes of his rambling and she was smirking.

"You obviously know her. Get her something she'll like."

"That's not helping," he huffed.

Hermione picked up some catalogues and handed them to him. "Look through those. Pick out a couple of things and I'll help you narrow it down … and Harry … make sure you separate her birthday from Valentine's Day."

He nodded.

Girls were so confusing, not to mention a lot of work. But they sure did smell nice and were really soft. That seemed to make up a lot for all of the confusing things. He scurried away to look through the catalogues because Hermione was giving him a look that said she knew exactly what he was thinking.

* * *

"Dobby!"

"Oh! Harry Potter sir is calling Dobby!" the elf said when he appeared in front of Harry.

"I was wondering if you'd do something for me. I can pay you whatever you want."

"Harry Potter sir is not to be paying Dobby," he said scandalized.

Harry made a face. "I promised Hermione that I would."

"What Miss Hermy doesn't know, won't hurt _you_."

Harry laughed. "You can get into the Slytherin dorms right?"

"I can sir."

"Do you know where Gabriella Nott sleeps?"

"I can find out, sir."

"Tonight, while she's sleeping, can you put these roses next to her bed and this present beside of it?"

"I can be doing that, no problem. Does Harry Potter want Dobby to wake her?"

"No. I'll let her be surprised when she wakes up in the morning. You sure you won't take some money Dobby?" Harry asked while he handed over the flowers and the present. "You can use it to make yourself a new tea cozy."

Harry smiled when Dobby's ears perked up so he handed over 2 galleons as well.

* * *

Harry and Ron were snickering amongst themselves as they entered the Great Hall behind Hermione. She was red faced because of the present Krum had sent her – well the card at least. She wouldn't show them what the actual present had been.

Harry glanced at the Slytherin table, and as he expected, Gabriella was not present. She was a late riser. Harry teased her over it all the time.

Just as he made a turn to head towards the Gryffindor table, he heard a noise associated with what sounded like his name.

He turned around (along with those present in the Great Hall so far) and saw Gabriella launch herself at him, kissing him full on the mouth. He was utterly shocked. They really hadn't kissed before except for pecks on the cheek. He had been too shy to do anything more with her. (That and anytime he tried, Snape always seemed to be lurking around the corner waiting to give him a detention.)

"Miss Nott!" came what sounded like Snape and McGonagall at the same time.

"That was so worth the detention I am going to get. The roses on my night stand and on my bed was incredible. So was your present." She reached up and kissed him again.

"Miss Nott, come with me," said McGonagall. Evidently she moved faster than Snape, who was right behind her.

"See you later, Harry."

"'Kay."

Harry finished meandering his way to the Gryffindor table. Eventually the noise started to pick back up.

"You can fry an egg on your face mate," said Ron. "It's really red."

Harry simply nodded … too shocked for words.

"What did you give her?" Asked Dean, clearly curious.

Everyone around him leaned in to hear the answer.

"A bracelet and some roses."

Finally coming around he realized what she had said. 'Roses on the bed?' He would have to question Dobby.

He quickly ate a waffle then excused himself. He could only imagine what was going through everyone's mind as he scurried away.

Going into an empty room, Harry called for Dobby.

"Yes, Harry Potter sir?"

"Thank you for helping me Dobby but I have a question for you. How did you arrange the flowers?"

"I is hoping Harry Potter wouldn't be mad but 3 of the red ones and 3 of the green ones, I is taking the petals and placing them on her bed while she was sleeping. I is thinking that Harry Potter's girlfriend might be thinking that it was romantic!"

Harry eyes widened in surprise. He would have _never_ thought to do that. He reached down and hugged the elf, who burst into tears.

"I need to run to class. Thanks again Dobby. I owe you big time for helping me."

As Harry hurried to class, he realized that he was still holding the present she had handed him before she was dragged off by McGonagall and Snape. Evidently he had held onto it while he scarfed down breakfast and didn't even realize it. Ducking into an alcove, he opened it and grinned. "Wicked!" he exclaimed.

* * *

"So did Hermione help you pick it out?" asked Gabriella as she joined Harry in the library. She was playing with her bracelet. It was chain linked with a green heart that would warm against her skin when Harry thought of her.

Harry faked a hurt look. "You don't think I could pick something like that out on my own?" he pouted.

"So did she?"

"No. Well, not really. You know, you should be happy. If I didn't have a girl best friend, I'd be blundering through this worse than I already am."

"I think you're doing just fine."

Ron and Neville both made a gagging noise. Hermione simply rolled her eyes.

"So how exactly did you get this stuff in my room?"

"Let me have some secrets," Harry said as he reached for his potions book while grinning at her. "Thank you for the present by the way. It's awesome."

To everyone's amusement, Gabriella's cheeks flushed.

* * *

Harry spied Gabriella across the Great Hall. He had her birthday present in his bag but hadn't seen her all day to give it to her. "I'll see you later Ron."

Ron nodded as he continued eating.

Harry crossed the Great Hall and parked himself next to her at the Slytherin table. That earned a few glares from the Slytherin's but no one said anything.

"You free after dinner?"

"I have detention again."

Harry snickered. "What did you do this time?"

She made a face. "I didn't do anything."

"Which was the problem," said Astoria on the other side of Gabriella.

"Huh?" was Harry's intelligent reply.

"I forgot to do my homework for Professor Snape."

Harry winced. "Before you head off to detention, come see me. I'll be waiting in the room across from the Great Hall."

She nodded.

Harry then got up from the table before he was glared into submission from the rest of the Slytherin House.

When Gabriella entered the small room a few minutes later, Harry said, "Happy Birthday". He handed her a cupcake with a candle on it (courtesy of Dobby) and her present.

"Harry! I didn't expect anything for my birthday," Gabby said as her friends started giggling from the doorway. Evidently they had followed to see what he was up to.

"You didn't ask to be born near Valentines Day. Besides, it's not much. I remember you saying that you wanted one at the Yule Ball."

For some reason, that made the girls giggle even more. If he lived to be 100, he doubted he would ever understand them.

Gabby blew out the candle on the cupcake and then tore open her present.

"Oh Harry! It's perfect! It's even prettier than the one Astoria has." She launched herself at him and kissed him.

'Yep, definitely worth it,' his mind said before it went numb.

Harry smiled at her when she pulled away. He was glad that she liked it.

"I gotta go. If I'm late, I'll end up scrubbing cauldron's for a month. Meet you in the library afterwards?"

Harry nodded as he watched her put her present in her bag and walk away. He then headed to the library. He still needed to find out how to do the second task.

* * *

"I'm beginning to think I'm doomed," muttered Harry. He had researched charms, potions, transfiguration (he was that desperate), and a whole bunch of stuff in between but the problem was that he just didn't know enough. He had even made nightly venture's to the Restricted Section in the library as well as to the Founder's Library.

And he had came up with squat.

On top of that, he also had an invisible Moody following him around and that was driving him bonkers as well. The man was creepy when he was visible. Invisible took it to a whole new level of creepiness.

"Why are you doomed?" asked Neville, who upon entering the dorm, had heard Harry.

"Because I can't find anything that will allow me to breathe underwater for an hour and live and the task is in three days."

"Have you considered gillyweed?"

Harry sat straight up. "What's gillyweed?"

"It's a plant that, when eaten, will allow you to breathe underwater by giving you gills."

"How long does it last?"

"It depends on how much you take."

Harry watched as Neville crossed the room and pulled out a book.

"Is that the book Moody gave you earlier in the year?"

Neville nodded as he flipped through the pages. "For an hour, you'll need to swallow 3 ounces of it."

"Neville, you're a life saver. Thank you!"

Neville turned red.

* * *

"Professor, I have a question about the assignment," said Harry hesitantly as he approached Snape's desk after class.

"The assignment was perfectly clear Potter," he snarled. "Even someone as imbecilic as you should understand it."

Once everyone was out of the room, Snape closed the door. "What don't you understand?"

"Er .. actually, sir, I understand it fine. I have a different question for you."

"Oh?" Snape raised an eyebrow as he sat back down in his chair.

"I was wondering if I could have 3 ounces of gillyweed, sir. There isn't any in the student cupboards."

"Mr. Potter, I am not allowed to help you in your tasks for the tournament. I'm sorry." Snape seemed genuinely surprised that he would actually ask him for it, but Harry wasn't about to take it without permission since the man _was_ being nicer to him.

"Oh." Well at least he knew that it would work.

"However, before you go, if you would be so kind as to bring me a couple ounces of Monkshood from my personal store room before you leave, I would appreciate it."

"Yes sir."

Harry realized, that in a round about way, Snape was giving him the opportunity to take what he needed, so he did. After depositing the Monkshood on Snape's desk, he left.

* * *

"You nervous Harry?" asked Gabriella as she leaned into his leg. She was sitting in the Gryffindor common room with him. None of the other Gryffindors seemed to mind – and it certainly seemed a lot safer than him going to the Slytherin common room. He had asked McGonagall a couple of weeks prior about how cross-house visitation worked. As long as everyone was okay with her in the common room, she could visit.

"Terrified, actually," pointed out Harry as he moved a chess piece.

"You'll be fine," said Ron as he announced check mate. "Honestly Harry, as much as we play, you should be better at this."

"Yeah. Yeah. Rub it in why don't you."

"Reckon I'll see you before hand tomorrow?"

"I hope so," said Harry.

Hermione chuckled lightly. At Harry's questioning look, she grinned. "I wouldn't think that you'd blush as much as you still do."

As retaliation, he sent a tickling hex at her.

"Miss Nott, third year curfew is in 20 minutes," said Finley, a 6th year Gryffindor prefect.

Harry hopped up, then pulled Gabriella to her feet. He stepped outside the portrait with her. "I'm sure I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sleep well," she said as she kissed him.

"You too," he said while smiling.

"Well at least you weren't in a make out fest like – well nevermind," McGonagall said as she came around the corner.

Harry and Gabriella jumped apart guiltily, even though they hadn't _really_ been doing anything.

"Third year curfew is in 15 minutes, Miss Nott. Run along."

Harry stepped back inside the portrait after McGonagall.

"Weasley, Granger, I need to see you."

"Which one?" called out Fred.

"Ronald."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all exchanged funny looks. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning."

They nodded to him as they followed their head of house out of the Tower.

* * *

A/N: As you can see, I kept the chapter longer, instead of cutting it in half. As I was writing the third task (yes third, not second), I realized that I had completely skipped Valentines Day, and that couldn't happen with Harry having a girlfriend, so I figured I would play around with his cluelessness about girls and see what I could come up with. Hopefully everyone liked it.

I originally didn't have Gabriella having a birthday, at least not during the school year, but around the same time I added the V-Day scene, I decided to add her birthday that way we can see him interact with her some more. And besides, I _had_ to use the 'if i live to be 100, i doubt i'll ever understand girls' line. *grins*

As for the un-named gift that Harry received as well as Gabriella's un-named birthday present. They *might* be made known at a later date. hehe

I realize that there isn't a lot of Snape in this chapter and I apologize. Of course, I didn't quite realize that fact until I went to write the scene where Harry asks him if he could have the gillyweed. By then, this chapter was already fairly long, so instead of adding a scene or two with him, I figured that would try to make up for it in a later chapter. =)

I hope everyone liked my take on how Harry figured out the egg (without Cedric's help) and then his struggle with it as he tried to figure out how to breathe under water. He was struggling pretty bad if he even _considered_ transfiguration. hehe

Graven: The answers to your questions: I asked Snape if he had a favorite cauldron and he pointed to one. When I asked him if he had a pet name for it ... I was sentenced to scrubbing all of them! *flail* I'm afraid that I can't confirm or deny if the smurfs are indeed related to the house elves, but during my said detention with Snape, he did take a fire call from someone and I clearly heard "I HATE SMURFS!" in the background. As for an answer to your final question, well, hopefully the next chapter will answer it quite nicely. bwahahahaha

And for the record, if I suffer from a case of writer's block, then it's Graven's fault for not giving me the antidote! *nods*

French: I didn't leave the torches with the pitch forks because I was hoping that I'd be able to hide from the mob better in the dark. ;-) After all, you can't poke me with sharp objects if you can't see me!

Up next, the second task! I still need to do some editing. (There's something off about it and I need to figure out what it is.) I imagine it will be up in a couple of days


	73. The Second Task

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any character thereof! I just like to play with them. =)

A/N: For what it's worth, some people may not have gotten a notice about the previous chapter. FF appears be having issues again. So if you didn't, it's there! *points* =)

* * *

Chapter 73

* * *

Harry woke up on the morning of the second task and the first thing he noticed, even before he put his glasses on, was that Ron was not in his bed. In fact, it didn't even look slept in.

Harry frowned. 'Surely he came back after McGonagall had pulled him out of the tower last night.'

He quickly got dressed and headed down to the common room. There he saw Neville.

"Morning Neville. Have you seen Ron?"

"Nope. Maybe he went on down to breakfast with Dean and Seamus."

"Maybe."

They walked toward the Great Hall together. He sat down at the table and went to grab some toast when Neville stopped him. "You can't eat one hour before you take the gillyweed. It'll make you sick."

Harry looked down at his toast. "Oh. Well, I'm not very hungry anyway. Can I drink?"

Neville nodded. "You could, technically eat, but you'll feel horrible after the gills go away."

"I'll not take the chance." Harry looked around the room. Everyone was excited about the second task today. It would be starting at 9:30 that morning. He then frowned, having just noticed that Hermione wasn't around either. 'Was she with Krum?' he wondered.

"Ready?" asked Seamus.

"Personally, I'd rather still be in bed asleep, but yeah, I guess."

"We'll be cheering you on! We're going on down to get seats! Good luck!"

Harry nodded. He was starting to get antsy. He waited on Neville to finish eating before he went to meet up with Gabriella at the Slytherin table. She took his hand as they headed down toward the Black Lake.

"Have you seen Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked Gabriella as they left the castle

"Yes, Harry. They were camped out in the Slytherin common room," she said as she looked at him.

"They were wh- ... oh ... right." Harry laughed. "Sorry. It's just that I've not seen them since last night."

"Maybe they came down earlier?"

"Maybe," he said distracted.

"Good luck Harry. I'll be cheering for you." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

He grinned and then headed down towards the shore line where the other champions were supposed to meet up.

"Here Potter," gruffed out Moody as he carefully handed something to him. Harry looked down and saw a handful of gillyweed. "Put that in your mouth before you go under the water."

"But sir-" Harry tried to protest in shock. No one was supposed to blatantly help him like this.

"Harry, ready for the task?" interrupted an exuberant Mr. Bagman, which gave Moody a chance to limp away.

"Uh, sure."

"Over here Mr. Potter," directed the Headmaster. Harry blinked at the man and wondered how he had not spotted him as soon as he had left the castle. He was wearing the brightest set of yellow robes he had ever seen. As if that wasn't bad enough, the robes had several Hogwarts' crests on it and they flashed between _all_ of the house colors. The same color wasn't on any two crests at the same time.

"Nice robes, sir," said Harry grinning.

The Headmaster beamed. "I'm afraid I don't get to wear them often enough," said the brilliant man in confiding tones.

Harry chuckled and looked away to see who all had arrived so far. It appeared that everyone was already there, except for Fleur.

* * *

Severus watched as Potter got ready for the task on the platform. He looked disturbed by something. Of course, he could just be disturbed by the Headmaster's robes. That had disturbed him ... and half of the staff that morning.

Looking through the crowd showed Miss Nott sitting with her friends close to the champions platform. Severus could not believe the lack of restraint the girl had shown on Valentine's Day.

He had taken her aside and had to reinforce the fact that Slytherins do not act improper in public.

Another oddity was that, despite an occasional exchange of words, the rest of the Slytherin's were leaving Potter alone.

The Headmaster seemed to find the whole thing amusing.

So to amuse himself, Severus spiked Albus' lemon drops. It took a week for the rash to go away ... or so the Headmaster complained.

* * *

Harry saw Fleur running up to the platform in a bikini. It was February and the water was going to be cold. He just shook his head and went back to scanning the crowd for Ron and Hermione. If he wouldn't have been so focused on hunting for two specific people, he would have seen the look of worship on most of the male population of Hogwarts when they had spotted Fleur.

"They better have a good reason for not being here," he mumbled.

* * *

"Welcome. Welcome to the second task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Last night, each of the champions had something of value taken from them. Their egg informed them that if it was not retrieved within an hour, it would be lost to them forever."

The crowd cheered.

"That is the task. Each champion please get ready and wade into the water to the starting line."

* * *

Harry made sure his wand was fastened securely in his holster. He had said a spell that would cause it to warm against his arm at the 45 minute marker. He then placed the gillyweed (that he had gotten himself - not what Moody had handed him) in his mouth and started chewing.

It tasted so disgusting that he almost spat it back out.

"On your mark. Get set. Go!"

Harry started having trouble breathing and he knew why. He dove under the water and felt better immediately. Thankfully the water no longer felt cold to him either.

* * *

"Now, the hard part for us is waiting," said the Headmaster.

Everyone laughed.

Severus walked up Albus. "There has to be a way for us to keep track of the progress of the champions."

He saw the Headmaster ponder something. "I might be able to come up with something for the next task."

Severus nodded and went back to waiting along with everyone else.

* * *

"Thank you Remus," muttered Harry as he swam away from the Grindylows. About 15 of them had attacked him all at once. He wouldn't have known how to deal with them if not for defense last year.

As Harry swam to what he hoped was the center of the Black Lake, he wondered how long he had been down there and where the others were. He hadn't seen anyone for a while.

* * *

Severus saw some bubbles forming near the edge of the lake. He, along with everyone else, stood to see who was coming up.

It was the Beauxbatons champion.

He watched as she swam to the platform only to be ambushed by Madam Pomphrey.

"Eet was ze Grindylows," he heard her say. They must have burst the bubble head charm that she had used.

"Miss Delacour didn't make it past the grindylows and has given up what was taken from her," announced Mr. Bagman.

"What was eet?" Severus heard her ask.

"Your sister," replied Moody with a grin.

She burst into tears.

"Alastor," admonished Albus with a frown.

Severus watched the Headmaster lean down and whisper something in the girls' ear. Whatever it was calmed her down.

* * *

Harry was looking around frantically. He had found Ron, Hermione, Cho, and someone that looked like a mini version of Fleur tied to a statue in the mer-people village. His wand had just warmed, telling him that 45 minutes had passed.

He had found the village about 10 minutes prior by following a mermaid he had seen. Then he had followed the voices.

"_An hour long you'll have to look,  
And to recover what we took.  
Your time's half gone, so tarry not,  
Lest what you seek stays here to rot."_

He was horrified when he had first came upon them. He had quickly freed Ron from the boulder holding him down and was looking around.

'Where was everyone?'

Every time he tried to free Hermione, the mer-people came at him with spears.

Finally Cedric came swimming in with a bubble around his head.

Harry read his lips. "Got lost. Go. Krum and Fleur should be behind me."

He watched as Cedric used his wand to free Cho and started swimming towards the surface.

After what seemed like an eternity, Krum came flailing through the water with half of his body transfigured as a shark.

Harry knew that his time with the gillyweed was almost up so he pulled out his wand and shot a spell at the rope holding Fleur's sister. If Fleur was coming, she would have been here already, of that he was certain.

The mer-people came at him again but Harry raised his wand. They swam away the second he had done that.

Evidently they didn't have any more magic than the giant squid did.

Dragging two people along side of him, he began to head for the surface.

* * *

Severus watched as more bubbles appeared on the water.

Diggory's head appeared first then Ms. Chang's head appeared right after it.

The Hufflepuff's burst out cheering.

Severus eyed the clock. It was one minute outside of the hour time limit.

He hoped that Potter took more than an hours worth of gillyweed.

Five minutes had passed when Krum popped up with Ms. Granger.

Ten minutes.

Finally at twelve minutes passed the hour, everyone stood to see the bubbles. The others had come up near the shore. These were near the middle of the lake.

Weasley came up first, then to everyone's shock, they saw that Harry wasn't with him. It was Miss Delacour's sister.

Everyone seemed to be waiting with bated breath. Even Weasley was shocked not to see Harry beside of him.

Ten seconds.

Thirty seconds.

A full minute later Harry broke the surface coughing.

Severus let out a breath he didn't even realize he had been holding.

* * *

Harry was coughing. He had been near the surface when the grindylows had come back for revenge. He pushed Ron and the girl up ahead of him.

The gillyweed had fully worn off about the same time they attacked him. His lungs were killing him. His chest and muscles hurt. He heard ringing in his ears but he finally managed to get free of their grips and kicked himself to the surface, after inhaling two mouthfuls of water.

"Harry, you all right?"

He shook his head no but managed to get across the point that they had to help the girl.

Harry could swim better than she could, which was really saying something.

Between the two of them they managed to get her to shore. To Harry it felt as if it had taken a week to do so.

Ron was then ambushed by Hermione and his brother Percy (who was standing in as a judge for Mr. Crouch). Fleur ran to her sister.

He, however, was nearly run over by Gabriella and Madam Pomphrey.

She shoved three bottles in his hand and told him to drink.

He shook his head. He was still coughing up water.

"Drink the blue one first Mr. Potter. It'll help you expel the water you undoubtedly breathed in."

It took him another minute before he could do so because of the coughing.

He started feeling better almost immediately. He then drank the other two potions. Harry looked around for the first time since breaking the surface and saw Dumbledore talking to the mer-people.

"Harry, you prat. You didn't believe that riddle did you?" asked Ron while pulling the blanket around himself.

"The song said -"

"That was just to make sure that you got back within the time limit. Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have let anything happen to us," said Hermione around Victor Krum.

"Yeah, well. It was creepy down there and the mer-people all had weapons. They threatened me more than once. I couldn't take the chance."

Gabriella chuckled. "I'm going to have to bring out your Slytherin side more. This Gryffindor hero complex you seem to have is going to get you killed."

Harry just stuck his tongue out at her.

"'Arry! Thank you for saving my sister even though she was not your 'ostage," said Fleur as she ran over to where Harry and Ron were sitting. Fleur then leaned over and kissed him on both cheeks.

Harry flushed and saw Gabriella get a dark look in her eyes. He then saw the same look go through Hermione's eyes when Fleur thanked Ron too.

"Here Potter. Another pepper-up potion. Take it in an hour."

"Yes ma'am."

"And now for the results!"

"Harry, you're tied with Cedric in first place," squealed Hermione after they were announced.

Harry grinned. 'Maybe - just maybe - I could really win this,' he truly thought for the first time.

* * *

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed that. Reviews are always good! *sets out the desserts!*

Up next, poor Harry realizes just how big of a 'freak' he is when he finally learns what the glowy thing is. Trust me ... he isn't going to be pleased. I promise it's longer than this chapter! =) I had quite a bit of fun writing out some different happenings before the third task ... which is four months away! *get's all shifty eyed and backs away slowly*

I reckon I'll have the next chapter posted in around 2 to 3 days.

A/N: Graven: Hopefully Dumbledore's robes answered your question you asked in the review before last. ;-) *quickly drinks anti-dote before you change your mind*


	74. Glowy Thing Explained

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof! I just like to play with them. =)

* * *

Chapter 74

* * *

_March 1, 1995_

_Dear Padfoot,_

_Moody is still acting weird. He keeps trying to help me. I don't think it's a coincidence that he leant Neville a book that contained information for me to be able to do the second task. And he gave it to him __before__ my name was put in the goblet. He was also the one to suggest flying to me for the first task. He feels off to me. Is it possible that he put my name in the cup?_

_Gabby and I are still together. She liked her Valentine's Day and birthday present. Ron likes her because she can hold her own in Quidditch talk. Hermione likes her because she's smart. Hermione says that I'm lucky to find an understanding girlfriend._

_I think I'm lucky to have Hermione as a friend otherwise I'd be lost with this whole girl thing._

_The giggling confuses me._

_Classes are going all right. I don't have to take any of the end of year exams so I have to keep my grades up all year long._

_I've used four pranks from the book you sent me for Christmas. Other than Ron and Hermione, no one knows it's me doing it yet. The twins are so confused. It's really funny._

_Tell Mooney I said hi._

_Love,_

_Harry_

Harry let Ron's owl, Pig, deliver the letter, much to Hedwig's annoyance.

He then sauntered off to find Neville.

* * *

"Severus, I'm growing concerned."

"There's nothing to be done about it. Flee if you must. I will make your excuses but I will not run," sneered Severus as he placed some empty bottles in his cupboard.

"So you will return to him if you are called?"

"I will do as I am bid to do. Now Igor, I have a class in two minutes. Kindly do yourself a favor and remove your presence from my classroom."

Severus saw Karkaroff leave the room in a cloud of anger. He slammed and locked the door behind him.

He then carefully pulled up his left sleeve.

The Dark Mark was getting darker and occasionally it would have a surge of pain flare through it. He had told Albus but there was nothing to be done.

Severus could only pray that it never reactivated.

* * *

"So you knew that it was Rita Skeeter because you recognized her glowy thing?" asked Hermione around a tower of books - one of which Harry swore was Russian.

"Yeah. I took her to Dumbledore. I hinted at blackmail. He found it amusing," Harry said, grinning at the memory.

"Harry, you need to go see Madam Pomphrey. You haven't found any books on it and it's _not_ normal. You might be sick."

"Hermione, I'm fine and really ... I'm used to it. It doesn't even bother me anymore. It's just something that's there."

"Harry, now is the perfect time to go see her. You're mostly caught up on your homework, Gabriella is in detention because her and Ginny hexed each other _again_ in Professor's Snape's class, and Ron and Neville are playing chess. Go on. If they ask, I'll tell them you went after a headache relieving potion."

"Fine," grumbled Harry. He gathered his books up and headed to the infirmary.

Harry looked around the hospital wing. He nodded to the 7th year Hufflepuff in one of the beds before knocking on the medi-witch's office door.

"Yes Mr. Potter?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute? It's kinda private."

"Of course." Harry watched her shut the door and felt what he guessed were privacy wards go up around the room.

"You won't tell anyone anything about what we talk about right?"

"It depends on what you tell me."

"Er... uh ..." Harry turned red and stood up to leave. "Never mind then. I don't want anyone else to know."

"Sit down Mr. Potter. As long as it's not life threatening or harmful to you or someone else, I won't speak of it."

Harry hesitated but nodded. He resumed his seat. "Ever since this summer, I've been able to see glowy things. I've been looking in the library to see if I can figure out what it is but I've not had any luck."

"Glowy ... things?"

"Yeah. Everyone has a different one, even the Weasley twins. During the World Cup game, I did notice that the muggles didn't have one. Professor Moody doesn't have one either. Everyone else does though."

Harry watched her eyebrows raise.

"Do they give you headaches?"

"At the World Cup I had one because of the sheer number of them but after that I've just gotten used to seeing them."

He watched her get up and rummage through some books.

"And you said it started this summer?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Yes ma'am."

"Did anything happen during the summer?"

"Not really. Nothing unusual anyway."

Harry watched her sit back down with four _very_ thick books.

"Last year, you were doing accidental magic all over the place. I've not heard of you doing any this year. What changed?"

Harry turned red. That had been so embarrassing. At least the few bouts of accidental magic that he had done so far this year hadn't reached her ears yet. "I knew that I needed to control my temper so I read some books on meditation. Professor Lupin thought that it might help me control some of my accidental magic as well."

"Professor Lupin was right. Did you start practicing the mediation techniques you read about?"

"Yes ma'am. I didn't want to blow anyone else up again."

"That is most likely what happened then. When you meditate, you center yourself - which in turn centers your magic. My guess is that had you not started doing that, then we'd be having this conversation in a couple of years."

"Do you know what's wrong with me then?"

She smiled which temporarily reassured him ... until she spoke. "There is nothing wrong with you, but you are more powerful than I realized. You, Mr. Potter, have been holding back in your spell work in all of your classes haven't you?"

"Er, what do you mean?"

"When you cast spells, you don't use all of your power do you?"

"No," said Harry. He was so confused.

"Can you gauge how much power you put behind spells?"

"For the most part ..." Harry suddenly got suspicious. "Isn't that something most people can do?"

"No, Mr. Potter, it's not. I take it this conversation has never come up with your friends?"

"No. Merlin this makes me even more of a freak than what I already am."

"You are not a freak Mr. Potter," the medi-witch said quite sternly.

Harry just shook his head. "What does this have to do with the glowy things?"

"The 'glowy things' as you call it, is a person's magical signature."

"Magical signature?" Harry's vision started to dim.

"Yes. People of a certain power level can see them. If you wouldn't have been holding back in your spell casting, I would have started watching for it from your first year. You would have been given two of these books to read then, in any case."

"What does 'of a certain power level' mean?" asked Harry. He was trying really hard to focus but the word freak kept entering his mind over and over.

"While I'm sure there are a few prominent wizards and witches in the world that can see them, I've only ever met one ... well two actually, though the latter is just an assumption on my part."

Harry was breathing in shallow breaths now but still managed to ask, "who?"

"The Headmaster and You-Know-Who."

The next thing Harry knew is that he was on the floor.

"C'mon Potter. Back in the chair or I'm going to make you stay overnight."

Harry shook his head, trying to get his bearings - and to clear the ringing out of his ears. He then cautiously got back in the chair.

"Drink this."

Harry done so. It made him feel remarkably calm very quickly.

"Better?"

Harry grimaced but nodded. At least the ringing in his ears had stopped. Even though he knew he didn't want to know the answer, he asked anyway. "And were they my age when they started seeing other peoples ... magical signatures?"

Madam Pomphrey looked at him grimly. "Perhaps you better drink another calming draught first."

Harry didn't need to be told twice.

When she answered, he was glad he had taken it. "Well, as for You-Know-Who, I imagine it was something he grew into. He offered his followers power, so it's my assumption he was powerful enough to see them. And as for the Headmaster, he was in his late twenties, early thirties when he started seeing them."

The only sign of stress that Harry could show was that his eyes glazed over.

Madam Pomphrey sighed. "Mr. Potter, I'm afraid I'm going to have to tell your professors about this."

"What? Why?" That certainly snapped him out of his daze.

"Because it's something they need to know. They may need to alter your homework or even class projects for you."

"No. Please Madam Pomphrey. Don't tell anyone. I'll do anything. I'm already a freak. This will make it so much worse."

"Mister Potter, quit fighting the calming draught. I can't give you anymore."

Harry took several deep, calming breaths. When he looked up again Madam Pomphrey was looking him over.

"Tell you what. You seem to have a pretty good handle on your power usage, certainly more than Albus did for many years," she added in confiding tones, "so I'll keep this between us for now. However, I need you to read these books for me. I'll give you two weeks to do so."

Harry's eyes widened as he looked at the thick books again.

"Don't look at me like that young man. This information is just as important as everything else you'll ever learn, even more so in some cases."

"How come there aren't any books on this in the library?"

"Because this is something that needs to be talked about before reading. Being able to see magical signatures is not a widely known skill. Can you imagine how you would have felt if you had read about all of this in a book?"

"And my classmates really can't adjust the power of their spells?" Harry clearly remembered Flitwick mentioning power usage in charms.

"They can to a degree but no where to your extent. In your 7th year, there is a 3-day class that discusses power adjustment of spells in detail."

"Three days?" asked Harry disbelievingly.

"Like I said, not to your scale."

Harry took the books and put them in his bag. "You won't tell anyone? Not Professor McGonagall nor the Headmaster?"

"I really should tell the Headmaster but I won't until we talk again in two weeks. Although, if he's not already figured it out, I'll be sorely disappointed in him."

"You won't even hint about this to anyone?" He had to make sure.

"No, Mr. Potter. Now, I've charmed those books to look like medical books should anyone see you reading them. However, you are _not_ to show them to anyone. You'll understand why when you sit down to read them."

Harry nodded.

"Did you have any immediate questions?"

Harry gave a humorless laugh. "Yeah. Why couldn't I just be normal? Normal's the only thing I've ever really wanted to be."

"Being normal is highly overrated. Now, you run along."

"Actually, can I have a couple of headache relieving potions. I get the feeling I'm going to need them."

Harry put them in his bag and as he and Madam Pomphrey were exiting her office, he nearly ran straight into Professor Snape.

"Sorry, sir," he muttered as he left the hospital wing.

* * *

"Poppy, a word?" Severus said as he eyed the visibly shaken Potter leave the infirmary.

"Honestly Severus. Hold on. Let me check Mr. Callen's leg."

Severus placed himself in a chair across from her desk and pulled a piece of parchment out of his robes.

Madam Pomphrey shut the door as she re-entered her office. "Now, what is so important that you nearly run over Potter and then order me around."

"I did not nearly run over Potter and I am not crazy enough to dare order you around. I am merely in a hurry. Here is a list of potions I just restocked the cabinets with. Is there anything else you need?"

Severus saw her look over the list. "At least three more vials of Skelegrow. I have no idea what Alastor is teaching his 7th years but that's the third student that I've needed Skelegrow for this week."

"Very well. I'll have some ready in two weeks. Out of curiosity, what _did_ Potter want?"

"You know very well that I can't talk about what he and I discussed."

"I was merely curious. He looked like someone you just gave the sex talk too."

Poppy chuckled. "Something tells me that he wishes that was what we talked about but it wasn't. And don't think I don't realize what you're doing. I only said it wasn't because he is dating one of your Slytherin's. Now shoo before I make _you_ give him the sex talk. I have paperwork to do."

Severus strode away in as calm of a walk as he could. He certainly wouldn't put it past Poppy to con him into doing such a thing, so it was best to leave before she could. The woman could be scarier than Dumbledore at times.

* * *

When Harry got back to the dorm, he managed to avoid Hermione and headed up to bed. He put the four books in his trunk and then through sheer force of willpower, he made himself fall asleep.

Around 3:30am he woke up sweating in bed. It wasn't due to Voldemort, Dementor's, or even basilisks this time. It was because no matter how hard he ran, he couldn't out run the word freak. He didn't want to be different from everyone else, he just wanted to be a normal 14-year-old wizard boy.

Sighing, Harry quietly got up and gathered his things for a shower.

Afterwards, he picked up the first book and began to read. By the time Ron got up, Harry was half way through it.

* * *

"Hermione, it really is nothing."

"But Harry -"

"Look. I talked to Madam Pomphrey. She told me what it is. I'm not sick, I promise. She also told me that I couldn't tell anyone." Okay, the last part was a lie but Harry really didn't want anyone to know just how big a freak he was.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't?"

"Why can't you tell anyone?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm in the hospital wing way too much to question her."

Hermione huffed and stormed off. She hated being denied information.

"I just saw Hermione run out of here. What did you or Ron say?" asked Gabriella as she sat her books down on the table.

Harry made a face at her. "It was me. She's upset because I wouldn't tell her something she wanted to know."

Thankfully, Gabby didn't press him. She no doubt sensed his mood.

"You're good at potions right?"

"For the most part. Why?"

"Because this makes no sense to me. Can you help?"

"Sure. Let me see what you're working on."

* * *

_March 7, 1995_

_Harry,_

_Alastor Moody has always been weird. It's possible that Albus has told him to watch over you. You have nothing to fear from him. He certainly would not have been the one to put your name in that goblet so get that out of your head. Moody is one of the good guys._

_Let me tell you something, from one guy to another. The giggling confuses everyone. As you get older, you'll see that women get more confusing instead of less._

_It sounds like you like this Gabriella girl a lot. Take things slow with her._

_Only four pranks? I figured you would have gone through half of them already. If you have any questions about them, let me know._

_Any ideas what the third task is yet?_

_Remember, if you have any more dreams, make sure you tell the Headmaster. If you need me, let me know._

_Love,_

_Padfoot_

Harry sighed as he read the letter. Was it just him that got a bad feeling from Moody? He stowed the letter in his trunk and headed off to class. He had been toying with the idea of telling his godfather about being able to see magical signatures but realized that even if he did want to, it wasn't safe to do it over a letter.

* * *

"Questions about what you read Mr. Potter?" asked Madam Pomphrey.

"I suppose being normal really is out of the question isn't it?"

"I told you before, being normal is overrated."

"I took some notes on what I read and most of it did make sense but I still don't understand why Professor Moody doesn't have a magical signature."

"Oh, he has one, but with him being as paranoid as he is, he no doubt performed a ritual to hide it. There are spells to hide one's magical signature for a short time of course, as you should have read, but the ritual makes it permanent so that you don't have to remember to keep casting the spell."

"Why? If only really powerful people can see it, why would he worry about it?"

"It's just the way he is. He's paranoid, but he's good, so most do not question his eccentricities."

Harry frowned. "Can I borrow the Aberton book for a little while longer? That's the only one I had the most trouble understanding."

"I'm sure the book being written in a form of Olde English doesn't help any does it?"

"Not really."

"You may borrow it for another week. Now, as for this agreement not to tell anyone, I really do need to tell the Headmaster."

"Please don't Madam Pomphrey."

"Why?"

"Because I'm tired of being different from everyone else."

"Mr. Potter. Harry. You are going to have to accept that you _are_ different from everyone else and embrace it. With this type of power you can do a lot of great things, but it also comes with a great deal of responsibility. The Headmaster can help you through this. He's been through it himself."

"I don't want power or responsibility. I just want to be a normal 14-year-old boy. I want to worry about causing pranks and not getting caught. I want to worry about Quidditch and keeping my friends and girlfriend happy. I want to worry about whether or not I'm going to pass Transfiguration. I don't want any more responsibility than that."

"Harry, listen to me. It is my belief that if you could not shoulder the responsibility that this gift has brought on, you would not have received it. I have faith in you that you will be fine. But you will need help understanding whatever else this could bring your way. I can only help you understand what you're going through to a degree. The Headmaster will be able to help you understand things a lot better."

Harry took a deep breath. He was on the verge of exploding something.

"Can we ... Can we keep this between us for just a little while longer? I need to time to think. Time to process stuff."

"Very well. Just remember this can open doors for you and allow you rare opportunities that you wouldn't normally get."

Harry nodded but before he could leave her office, she stopped him.

"Until you allow me to tell the Headmaster, I'll need to meet with you once a week to make sure that you don't have any questions about what you've read, or what you're going through. I'm aware that you've been fine thus far and you would have been fine had you not came to see me, but I would prefer to ere on the side of caution."

He groaned, but nodded. If it kept anyone else from finding out how different he was, he would probably agree to meeting with her once a day.

* * *

Severus was restocking the potion's cabinet with the Skelegrow Poppy had asked for when he saw Potter flee from her office again. He looked like he had been run over by a herd of hippogriff's.

Why was he in the hospital wing again? Was he sick? It couldn't be blamed on Quidditch because no one was allowed to fly this year. Besides, he didn't look physically hurt.

"Oh, thank you for the Skelegrow, Severus."

Severus nodded and swooped out of the hospital wing.

As he headed back down toward the dungeon's, he was brought up short by Potter looking out of one of the window's. He ducked into an alcove to watch him but he turned around at that moment and walked off, mumbling something that Severus couldn't over hear.

He idly wondered if he could sic Albus on Poppy to see what was wrong with Harry. Then again, the Headmaster would just twinkle at him because he was concerned. He would be forced to hex Albus at that point.

Severus made the journey to the dungeons in silent contemplation.

* * *

A/N: Poor Harry. As you can see, the Dursley's left an impression on Harry about him being a freak. And as you also saw, Harry was yet again ignored when he suspected something was wrong with Moody. Let's just hope that it doesn't come back to bite him in the arse. ;-) I hope I explained magical signatures and his ability to see them to where it was believeable. Hopefully I explained Moody's lack of a magical signatures to everyone's satisfaction as well.

Up next, Harry learns that there are still yet some things about girls that he doesn't understand. Also, he makes more trips to the Founder's Library.

I had a couple of new reviewer's and I was asked what my update schedule is like. I update about every 2-4 days. For a while it was everyday, but that was because I hit a wall of writer's block ... which has since been torn down. I like to keep myself several chapter's ahead of what I post that way I can go back and change minor things if I need to. Anywho, the next one will be up in a couple of days. =)

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day if you celebrate it. Personally, I'd like to tell cupid where to shove his arrows ... but that's just me. ;-) *grins*


	75. Hidden Places and Sudden Conversations

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other character's. I just like to play with them. =)

* * *

Chapter 75

* * *

"What is this place Gab? I've never seen it before."

"It's called the Room of Requirement. If you walk past that tapestry 3 times while thinking of what you want the room to be, a door will appear - assuming no one is already using it."

Harry looked around the room. Gabriella had it mimicking a mix between the Slytherin and Gryffindor common rooms. Well, except for the unusually large couch in the middle of the room. That was different. "How did you find out about this place?"

"Luna told me."

"The blonde Ravenclaw in your year? I've seen her with Ginny a time or two."

Gabby nodded. "Luna's odd, but nice. I've been paired up with her on a couple of Arithmancy projects. That's how I got to know her."

"So why the big couch?"

Gabriella laughed which made Harry turn around to look at her to see what was so funny.

"You really are clueless aren't you?"

Harry nodded. "It's not the first time I've been clueless and I doubt it will be the last."

"Aren't you tired of getting detention every time we turn around for 'inappropriate behavior'?"

"Yeah, but they've normally been worth it," Harry said with a fair amount of blushing.

A couple of seconds passed by in silence.

"Oh!"

Gabriella laughed outright which made Harry turn even redder.

* * *

"He's acting different Albus. It concerns me," Severus said as he picked up his cup of tea.

"I've noticed the oddities too but he knows things that only the real Alastor Moody would know."

"You've not mentioned anything at all about me have you?"

"No, but he has been ranting about how you are an agent of evil bent on bringing the building down around our ears."

"I don't understand why he's doing that. He knew what side I was on during the war."

Albus shrugged slightly. "Who knows? Alastor has became really paranoid in the last 5 years or so. Why else perform the ritual to hide his magical signature when there aren't very many people that could have seen it to start with? I've come to expect the unexpected from him." He popped one of his many types of candies in his mouth then eyed Severus. "I have a question for you."

Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Minerva's been to see me again about how many detentions you've been giving Harry. Are you trying to tell him the truth again?"

Severus scowled. "No. I am not. I keep walking in on him and Ms. Nott kissing. Kissing can lead to other things! They are both too young for those 'other things'. I even caught them in the Room of Requirement the other day! Who knows where things would have led had I not interrupted them!"

"Severus, the tracking spell you had me put on Harry's necklace was not meant for you to interrupt his personal life," scolded the Headmaster.

"I'm remember what it was like being a 14 year old boy. It only takes a matter of seconds to go from one thing to the next."

"Honestly, Severus. Harry is brighter than that. If you're so concerned, why don't you sit him down and talk to him about sex."

Severus sputtered into his tea. Shouldn't he be the one conning the Headmaster into this talk ... not the other way around?

"It's something that most parents need to talk with their children about so you may as well get it over with."

"Yes, well, Harry doesn't know I'm his parent now does he? Why don't _you_ tell him?" sneered Snape.

"Oh no. I couldn't do it. I'm afraid I'm simply not up to date on the terms that the kids today use. Why, the other day, Mr. Talbert of Ravenclaw told me that my robes were bombing and I'm afraid that I thought he meant someone had dropped an itch bomb into my robes again."

At that, Severus lips twitched in amusement. "Perhaps Poppy should tell the boy. She is a nurse after all."

"One doesn't have to be a nurse in order to tell someone what can happen when two people have sex."

"Minerva is his head of house. This should be her responsibility, not mine."

"Minerva isn't Harry's father. You could sit him down and tell him during one of his many detention's he seems to be acquiring."

"Well if they wouldn't kiss, he wouldn't be getting that many detention's from me."

"And yet you don't give her as many detentions as him."

"That's because I expect better from him."

"But not from her? Even though she's your Slytherin?"

"I've had conversations with Ms. Nott about acting inappropriately." Knowing what Albus would say next, Severus continued speaking. "And I expect Potter to act better because he is my son."

"But he doesn't _know_ that Severus."

"Semantics."

"It is not semantics." Albus stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Why don't you just tell him the truth? If you want, I can summon him right now."

"You're crazier than I thought. I can't tell him right now. Not with my Dark Mark growing darker by the day. We still don't even know how his name got in that Goblet."

"Actually, I found out who put his name in the goblet the other night. It just doesn't make any sense though."

"Who was it?"

"Barty Crouch."

"What? Why would he put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire? I mean, the man even sentenced his own son to Azkaban. Why would he break the rules here?"

"I'm afraid I don't know Severus. I've sent some owls to Mr. Crouch but I've not gotten any back. If I do not hear from him soon, I'm going to pay him a visit myself."

Severus nodded. "If you discern that it has nothing to do with my Dark Mark growing darker, I'll tell Harry the truth ... before the third task."

Albus' eyes shined brightly. It would appear that Severus has conquered whatever fear he had previously held about telling the boy the truth.

* * *

"Professor, do you have a moment?"

"Certainly Mr. Potter. What can I do for you?" Flitwick looked up from the still smouldering chair that Dean had accidentally caused to explode in class.

"Are there any spells that would allow a person to write a letter to a ghost?"

"A ghost?" squeaked out the tiny professor.

"Yeah. I've seen Sir Nicholas with letters before and I was wondering if it was possible for me to send a letter to him that he could read?"

"I'm actually not sure. I imagine a spell for it does exist somewhere but I've never seen one personally."

"How hard is it to make a spell?"

"During my 7th year N.E.W.T. class I give it as a group project. It has the potential to be dangerous for anyone younger."

"Oh." Harry would have to find another way. He wasn't sure his idea would work even if he had the spell. "Thanks anyway, Professor."

As he headed towards the tower, he wondered if he was again thinking to complex. 'It's possible that Nick will be able to give me permission to remove the books from the library with him being a house ghost,' he thought. 'Maybe I should simply ask him.' He was going to have to start thinking small and work his way up to the bigger ideas.

He had tried all of the portraits again, working his words around the spell that prevented him from actually admitting to finding the Founder's Library. And again they had just looked at him, though he had thought the portrait of Slytherin gave him an appraising look, despite the fact that he still wouldn't respond.

* * *

Harry was currently in the Founder's Library. He couldn't sleep so he decided to explore some more.

He cast a spell that he had found that cataloged all of the books in the room onto some pieces of parchment that he brought. He figured that it would be easier to find something good to read this way.

He then picked up the pieces of paper and scanned them. The spell also put the author's of each book next to the title.

However, there appeared to be a draw back of the spell. If the book was written in another language, the title appeared in that language. Harry frowned. He did find out why a couple of the bookcases didn't have any house symbols on them though. They held the books written by other people.

After he scanned the titles, he found that a lot of books were on the same subject, just different author's, which made sense, he supposed. Even though he was a Gryffindor, he felt drawn to the Slytherin bookcases. He easily found a book of protective spells (at least he thought that's what the title said). He quickly set his wand to warm against his arm at 5am and settled in to read.

By 5am, Harry had read a few chapters of it. He would have had more read but having to look up words every 10 minutes kept distracting him.

Before he left the room for the night, he became curious. "Can I please take the book out of the room if I promise not to show it to anyone?" he asked out loud.

He tried to leave through the door but the invisible barrier was back up again.

"I already can't talk to anyone about this place without my head splitting open in pain. I promise to only read it at night or when I'm alone."

Again he tried to leave and again he was denied.

Sighing, he left the book out on the table that way he could continue reading it the next time he was down there.

As Harry made his way back through the underground tunnels, he knew that he needed to find another entrance because 2 - 3 hours at a time down there wasn't working very well. The entrance through the Chamber of Secrets couldn't have been the only one because according to legend, the other Founder's didn't even know about the Chamber.

He also made a mental note to actually hunt down Nick for permission to remove the books. He hadn't seen the ghost for a couple of days, otherwise he would have asked him before he came down here tonight.

As Harry carefully made his way back to the tower using the Marauder's map, he saw something strange on it. Ducking into an alcove to avoid Professor Sprout, he took a closer look.

Barty Crouch was walking around Moody's quarters.

Scanning the vicinity didn't reveal Moody anywhere.

'Odd. The man is too sick to judge but he's in Moody's room at 6am?' he thought. Putting it out of his mind for the moment, he finished his journey to the tower.

While he was showering - to wake up some more and to get all the dirt off of him - he had a revelation.

He could see if the room of requirement would let him access the Founder's Library that way. He wondered why it had not crossed his mind to do so before.

* * *

Harry was currently serving detention. He had been mortified when Snape had walked in on him and Gabriella in the Room of Requirement _again_. Not that they had been doing anything other than kissing, but still, it had been embarrassing nonetheless. It was like the man had a personal vendetta against him having a personal life. Thinking about it made him mad so he put his extra energies into scrubbing the cauldron's.

"Potter, sex is bad for you."

The cauldron Harry had been cleaning clanged to the ground. 'Had he and Snape started a conversation when he hadn't been paying attention?' "Excuse me, sir?"

"Sex is bad for you. Don't have it."

"Uh ... Er ..." He trailed off. Snape is _not_ talking to him about sex. Did Hell suddenly freeze over when he wasn't looking? He watched as Snape went back to grading essay's. Harry stared at him for so long that Snape looked back up.

"Questions, Potter?"

"No ... I mean yeah ... I mean .. Ugh. Why did you tell me that s-sex is bad for me?"

"Because it is. It can lead to babies."

Harry sputtered.

"And kissing can lead to sex. So kissing is bad for you too," added the potion's master, seemingly as an after thought.

At this point, it was hard to tell who's face was redder; his or Snape's, but he wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing. "Why are you talking to me about s-s-sex?"

"Because you need to know. You'll have less detention if you quit kissing," said Snape. If he hoped that would have mollified Harry, he was wrong.

"Why do you even care?" demanded Harry.

"Oh, trust me Potter, I care a great deal. You've _not_ ... had sex yet ... right?"

"No!" squeaked out Harry. "Of course not!" He idly wondered if he could be boiled in one of Neville's cauldron's.

Snape sighed and put down his quill. "Do you love Ms. Nott?"

"I don't know what love is sir," said Harry frowning. He missed Snape's incredulous look as he sat down in the nearest chair. "I like her a great deal, sort of like Ron and Hermione, but in a different way."

"I personally think you're too young for love, but, my own experience tells me that it can strike at any age. I also think you should wait until your 30 before you have sex ... but that's just me."

Harry looked at Snape as if he had grown a second head.

"Just, right now, you and Ms. Nott are both too young to even consider it."

"But sir, we've not went any further than kissing!"

"As I said earlier, kissing can lead to other things, so it's best to avoid that too."

"So let me get this straight. I'm supposed to turn 30, find love - without kissing, and then I can have s-sex?" Forget Neville's cauldron, he wondered if he could ask Malfoy to poison him - assuming he didn't die from embarrassment first.

"Exactly." Snape then picked up his quill to continue writing as if the conversation had never taken place.

"That's not going to happen, sir ," Harry informed him rather bravely then looked at him quite cheekily and said, "And to be honest, s-sex never even entered my mind before now." He then got up and picked up the cauldron that he had dropped in the floor earlier.

"Potter!" snarled Snape.

Harry just grinned over his shoulder and started re-scrubbing the cauldron. He then stop and frowned at the still glaring potion's master. "Sir?" he hesitantly asked.

"Yes?"

"Does everyone think that Gabriella and I are ...?"

"No, Potter. They don't."

"Then why did _you_ think we were?"

"I didn't think you were. I just wanted to head you off before you thought of it on your own. Wait for love. It's worth it if you do, just make sure that you are at least out of school for your first time."

Harry nodded. "Uh ... why _are_ _you_ talking to me about this?" Snape had never really answered him when he had asked it the first time.

He saw Snape flinch a little. "It's my understanding ... that this is something that most parents tell their children."

A couple of seconds passed by in silence when Harry looked up and asked, "but why didn't Professor McGonagall tell me?"

"Do you really want Professor McGonagall to tell you? I can certainly arrange for that."

"No ... no. That's alright. I think I'll go back to cleaning the cauldrons now."

"Just go ahead and leave for the night Potter. I'll ease up on giving you the detention's if you promise to not go any further than kissing _and_ if you promise that if the thought crosses your mind, you come to me with any questions you might have."

"Er ..." Harry looked Snape over. The man seemed really sincere about it. He doubted he'd have any questions since he didn't plan on having sex with anyone any time soon so he nodded. "Yes, sir."

"And Potter, like our other conversations, keep this between us."

"Yeah. Don't worry. I will." With that said, he fled from the classroom.

* * *

Severus watched as Potter literally ran from the potion's classroom.

He had, in a round about way, told Harry that he was his father. It's just too bad that the boy didn't realize it. Harry must have assumed that he meant 'parents tell their children' figuratively, like he was the Head of Slytherin - which would explain why he inquired as to why Minerva hadn't been telling him this.

He had no intention on talking to the boy about sex at the beginning of detention. As the evening progressed though he had heard him muttering under his breath about how it wasn't fair that he couldn't even kiss Gabriella without getting into trouble and yet he saw other people kissing all the time and they didn't get detention (which was true ... but in Severus' mind - irrelevant).

So, in a rash decision he had blurted out that sex was bad and hoped that Potter would leave it at that. He knew how to tell his Slytherin's about sex, but telling a Gryffindor was something he was unfamiliar with. It would appear that bluntness does indeed work well with them though.

He eyed the clock on the wall. Was 8pm too early for a nightcap? Because he desperately needed something to drink. Do all parents have this problem? He _knew_ he should have conned Poppy into this talk with the boy.

Leaving his grading on his desk, he stalked to his quarter's for that drink.

* * *

A/N: Ok, I cut this chapter shorter than what I had originally anticipated but I also added "the talk". I didn't originally have Severus giving it to him ... at least not this early, but I needed a Snape / Harry interaction and *poof* one appeared! I worked with it for a while. I hope you all liked it. And if you all noticed, Snape did indeed tell Harry the truth ... in a Slytherin sort of manner. Too bad Harry didn't realize it.

I have some massive editing to do to the next chapter since my cutting this one short and adding "the talk" messed with the format of the next one but I should have it up before Monday. Because of this, I really can't give you a teaser as to what's in the next chapter.

I also want to thank everyone for the reviews. I appreciate them lots and lots! *set's out pizza* =)


	76. Curiosity Happens

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any character thereof! I do, however, like to play with them. =)

* * *

Chapter 76

* * *

"Nick! Got a minute?" It was a couple of days after Snape had told him that sex was bad and he _desperately_ needed a distraction. Because of that talk, he had actually exploded something in class earlier that day. He had _never_ exploded a potion before ... and as if that wasn't bad enough, it was a non-reactive potion. Even Neville didn't explode anything.

"Certainly young Harry. What did you need?"

"I was wondering if you could give me permission to -"

Harry suddenly couldn't finish his sentence.

"To? To do what?" asked Nick, clearly curious.

"To -" Harry suddenly got a headache. He sighed. Whatever spells were on that room was certainly annoying. "Argh," he said. "I found a place that has a lot of books in it and I was wondering if you could give me permission to remove them. There's an invisible barrier that raises whenever I try to take a book through the doorway."

Nick's eyes widened. Harry thought he saw a glimmer of recognition as to what he was talking about flash through his ghostly eyes.

"Certainly the librarian can give you permission," hedged Nick.

"These books aren't in the normal library."

"Then I'm afraid I can't help you." Nick started to float away, rather quickly, thought Harry.

"Got a different question for you then," said Harry.

Nick stopped and turned around. His head wobbled dangerously as if it was about to fall over.

"In Hogwarts, A History, there was a passage about the Founder's ghosts lingering to protect the castle. Is that true?"

"Many things are written in that book. I see Bartholomew the Blasted. Gotta run!"

He frowned as Nick floated away toward another ghost. He didn't actually answer the question - which Harry realized.

* * *

"Nice Susan," said Harry sarcastically.

"I thought so. You should be pleased. The plant isn't throwing dirt at you anymore."

Professor Sprout had let everyone continue working on their plant project's for extra credit. Currently they were the only ones left in the green houses.

"Yeah, but it ain't doing much of anything else either. I can't believe you yelled at it."

"Fine," she said laughing. "I'll apologize to it."

"You should. The happier it is, the better extra credit grade we get."

"I don't know why you're so worried."

"I'm exempt from the end of year exams so I have to keep my grades up all year long and I got a Troll on the test last week."

Susan snickered. "That's because you let the Thistleweed bush almost die."

"I didn't mean too. It poked me and I lost my concentration."

She laughed again.

As they were leaving the green houses, Harry picked up a small clump of dirt and threw it at her for revenge.

"What?" Harry grinned innocently. "It wasn't me."

"Then how come Neville and Ernie's plant is pointing its leaves at you?"

Harry turned to glare at said plant. "Because it's a Tattle-tail bush."

Susan picked up the loose dirt on the ground and threw it back at him and then ran out of the door.

By the time they got in the castle, they were laughing really hard while gasping for air.

As Harry began siphoning the dirt off of himself and Susan, someone slammed into his shoulder.

"What the -" It was Gabriella. "Hey. Wait up Gabby!" he called.

Harry furrowed his brow. She acted like she didn't even hear him.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" he asked Susan.

"Er ... she knew you was with me right?"

"Yeah. I told her about the extra credit," Harry said non-plussed.

Susan was looking him over. "You really don't know do you?"

"No. I wouldn't have asked if I did."

"Oh Harry. She's jealous."

"Why would she be jealous? We're just friends."

Susan sighed. "She probably knows you asked me out to the ball."

"So?"

"You really _are_ daft. She's afraid you like me as more than a friend. She's probably feeling threatened by how much time we've been spending in the green houses together lately."

Harry groaned. "I spend a lot of time with Hermione. Is she jealous of her too?"

Susan shook her head. "You've been friends since your first year."

"You know, you girls are too confusing. Someone needs to write all this stuff down somewhere. I've told Hermione the same thing."

Susan laughed.

Harry sighed. "I reckon I need to go talk to her. See you later."

"Good luck," called out Susan as she watched him walk away.

Harry then headed towards the Slytherin dorms, which is where he hoped Gabriella went.

It didn't take him long to get there. He then stood in front of the blank patch of wall that he knew housed the Slytherin door and looked at it. Curiosity got the better of him.

"_Open_," he hissed.

Amusingly enough, a door appeared and opened. Harry stepped back from it. He figured they wouldn't appreciate a Gryffindor having access to their dorms. The thought of just striding in one day like he belonged there entered his mind and he chuckled at the expressions most of them would have.

It was perhaps 10 minutes before a group of Slytherins came along.

They were only partially surprised to see him. He had waited on Gabriella a couple of times, but only outside. The Slytherin's didn't feel comfortable with him in their common room - and honestly, neither did he.

One of these, Harry recognized, was a prefect.

"Can one of you please tell Gabriella that I'm out here?"

"Get lost Potter."

"No."

The prefect made a face that was a poor imitation of Professor Snape's sneer. "Leave Potter."

Harry shrugged. "I will if you tell Gabriella that I'm out here."

The Slytherin's went inside laughing.

About five minutes later Theodore Nott came outside.

"Leave my sister alone Potter."

"What's your problem? You've been fine with us dating for the past three months."

"That was before you made her cry."

Harry flinched. "I didn't mean to. Tell her I'm out here, please."

"No."

"Dammit. Look. I'm not leaving until you do."

"You will if I hex you."

"I'd like to see you try." Harry raised his wand into a defensive position automatically.

"Is there a problem gentlemen?"

Harry and Theodore both jumped. It was Professor Snape.

"Potter won't leave my sister alone, sir."

"I just want to talk to Gabriella."

"And I don't want him too."

The Slytherin door suddenly appeared in the wall and opened.

"It's okay Theo."

"No. It's not. He's no good for you."

"Mr. Nott, come with me for a minute."

Harry watched as Snape and Nott went up the hallway. He then turned to look at Gabby.

"There's nothing going on between me and Susan," he blurted.

"Really?"

"I promise. You can even ask her yourself."

She then flung herself at Harry. "I'm sorry. It's just that I know you asked her to the ball and when you're with her my bracelet never warms. And then I saw you two come in the castle ... and it looked like you were having a good time together ..."

"Gabriella, I do have a good time with her ... as friends. That's all."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

* * *

"Mr. Nott. I've talked with you about this before."

"I'm sorry, sir, but he made her cry."

"I'm sure it's not the first time, nor will it be the last."

"I don't like it."

"Mr. Nott. Your family is all about name, money, and prestige. I'm sure you remember those lessons you received while growing up."

"I also remember lessons about blood purity as well. Potter is a half blood with a mudblood for a mother," he spat viciously.

It took _all_ of Severus' self control to refrain from hitting Nott right there. "You know that I do _not_ tolerate that word in my presence."

Snape took a couple of menacing steps towards Theodore and saw him flinch. "Potter may not be a pureblood but he has the money and name behind him. A person doesn't get any more than famous than he. I _have_ talked with your father about Potter and your sister dating."

"You did?" he interrupted.

"Of course I did you idiot boy. He agreed to let them date. If they break up badly, think of the information she could have gotten from him."

Severus could see Nott think it over and nod.

"Go on back to your dorm and I do not want to hear of you interfering in their relationship again."

"Yes, sir."

After Nott left, Severus locked and warded the unused classroom. He then put his head in his hands and rubbed his temples.

Something had tore in him to say those things as callously as he did. He felt dirty.

He had felt dirty the night he had talked to Theodore Nott Sr. too. It had been the day after Christmas. Severus knew that he needed to try to smooth things over before Nott Sr. could interfere. The man made Lucius look like an angel sometimes.

Taking a deep breath, he took down the wards and headed back to the Slytherin dorms. He had been going to talk one of the first years when he had came upon Potter and Nott arguing earlier.

When he got near the door, he heard Potter bidding good night to Gabriella.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night Harry. I'm sorry I acted so jealous."

"I'm sure I'd have been jealous too if I saw you like that with some boy."

He watched as Harry walked past him and heard him whisper, "G'nite Professor Snape."

Severus just shook his head. He had been using a spell to blend in with the shadows. No other student had ever been able to see past the illusion. He _would_ figure out how the boy could tell that he was there.

* * *

"Death! Death all around you! You will not survive this next task!," said Professor Trelawney.

Harry tried really hard not to roll his eyes. "And you can see this in my aura because Mars is in alignment with Pluto and one of Jupiter's moons is upside down?"

"Yes, yes Mr. Potter! Doom! Doom!"

After class let out they hurried toward the dorm to ditch their books before dinner.

Ron was still making fun of Trelawney as they headed back to the Great Hall when Harry's vision and hearing dimmed.

He recognized the warning and blindly reached out and grabbed his two best friends.

They stopped walking and turned around.

He then felt himself being dragged somewhere.

* * *

"Quickly Wormtail! He's almost through the wards!"

Suddenly their location changed. Wormtail quickly and carefully put Voldemort down after shoving someone else onto the ground. He then untangled Nagini from his neck.

Voldemort was spitting mad. "I want to know what that fool is doing that caused _him_ to come to the house! Write to him and tell him that if he does not have an explanation for this, I will kill him and it will not be a fast death!"

Wormtail transfigured something into a piece of paper and quickly wrote a note. He then cast a spell that immediately caused the note to vanish.

"Why am I surrounded by such incompetence? I've ask him to do a simple thing and he nearly fails!" continued Voldemort as he ranted on.

"Master, you appear to have your strength up. We could do it now or even use someone else."

"No Wormtail. I still need a little over two months to be ready so that I can survive the ritual and I _must_ use the boy. There will be no one else. We cannot safely return to that house. It's time to head back to the place we started from for now."

"Yes Master. Right away master."

* * *

Harry slowly came back to his own head and took in his surroundings.

Severus had been on his way to see Professor Sinastra about overseeing a detention he had assigned when he saw a strange sight.

Weasley and Granger were dragging Potter into a hidden doorway behind a tapestry.

The hallway was fairly empty so no one else had noticed. Severus' curiosity got the better of him. He stalked over and pulled the tapestry back. Weasley and Granger gasped at the sight of him.

"What's wrong with Potter?" Severus knelt down and quickly took the boy's pulse. It was racing and he was covered in sweat. He noted that his scar was inflamed too.

Weasley looked like he was about to start throwing a barrage of insults so Granger spoke up first.

"He gets like this sometimes Professor. It normally goes away after a minute."

"Why do you care?" demanded Weasley.

Granger hit Weasley in the arm. "Honestly Ron. Behave."

"He'll just use this as ammunition in class," snarled the red headed boy, rather bravely.

Before Severus could disprove him of that notion, Potter sat straight up. His scar was bleeding now.

"Ugh."

Severus could see his eyes open in surprise when he saw who was standing over him. Potter had become nervous in his presence ever since he had given him the 'talk', which had caused Severus some pain and anxiety of his own. He didn't want Harry to be uncomfortable around him. The boy had even managed to explode a non-reactive potion in class a week ago.

"Professor?"

"What happened Potter? Are you alright?"

Harry reached up and touched his scar.

"It's bleeding," Granger said quietly as she handed him something to press to his forehead.

"This has happened before?"

Potter had a resigned look on his face. "Yes. At least I wasn't in class. I can only imagine what Trelawney would have thought of this."

Despite the gravity of the situation, Severus heard Weasley snicker, so he turned his death glare toward the boy.

"What is it? What's wrong with you?" he asked refocusing on Harry.

"Er ... I'm not sure I should say, sir."

Severus used a touch of legilimency. "Why can't you tell me?"

He watched as Harry's eyes widened then as the boy averted his gaze. "I was told not to tell anyone but the Headmaster and could you _please_ not do that right now. My head is already splitting open."

Severus' own eyes widened. So Potter could indeed feel the brush of legilimency.

Harry stood once his scar quit bleeding and after he got his bearings said, "I'm alright now sir. Thank you for checking up on me. C'mon guys. Let's go eat. I'm not very hungry now but if I miss dinner, you may have to bury me because Gabriella will kill me."

"You shouldn't have missed lunch mate."

"Yeah, well. I was working on something," he said evasively.

Severus halted the trio before they left. "Headache potion Potter."

Harry's eyes widened. "Thank you sir." He quickly downed it and handed the empty bottle back.

* * *

Severus watched them leave. It was time to go interrogate Poppy. He had seen Harry in the hospital wing almost every week since the second task. Had the gillyweed somehow harmed him? He paused before coming out from behind the tapestry.

It couldn't have been the gillyweed though. It's a relatively safe plant.

With a determined scowl set on his face, he strode to the hospital wing with his robes billowing behind him.

* * *

Albus had a headache.

This was not looking good.

He had finally gone to check on Crouch before dinner only to find something he was not expecting. Not only was the house empty, having clearly been vacated about 5 seconds before he broke through the wards, but it reeked of dark magic.

Not just any dark magic either. The kind that only a few people could even stand to be around. The kind that normally Riddle surrounded himself in. He had not felt such a large amount of dark power in a long time.

He had examined the house for about an hour, which is all he could stand to be around it, before he came back to Hogwarts.

Any hope of it not being Voldemort was dashed when he saw Hedwig waiting in his office with a note attached to her leg.

Harry had another vision during the time that he had been at Crouch's home.

Then Alastor had came barging in his office saying that he suspected 3 of the staff members of evil doing yet wouldn't name them.

There was something off about Alastor but he couldn't put his finger on it. That, also, was driving him insane. He needed to figure out what was wrong with the man. Surely no one could have gotten in close enough to him to curse him, not with him being as paranoid as he is.

And if that hadn't been bad enough, Poppy had come storming up to his office saying that she found Severus trying to gain access to Harry's medical records. Evidently between the boy's mysterious weekly visits to the medi-witch and Severus seeing Harry in one of his trances (Harry's note had mentioned it) the man had finally had enough.

He idly wondered if this day could get any worse.

Suddenly his office door swung open again. He sighed. It was Severus.

Yes. Yes it could indeed get worse.

* * *

A/N: It's been a while since I had left off with any semblance of a cliff hanger. I figured you were all due another one. ;-) As you can see, I kinda deviated from canon again b/c in canon Dumbledore didn't pay a visit to Crouch's home. And poor Severus. Can you imagine the tongue lashing he received when Madam Pomphrey caught him trying to access Harry's medical file? *snickers*

Anywho, up next, if I leave the chapter the way it is now, it takes us almost but not quite all the way to the third task. I'm not sure about it yet though. It feels like I'm missing a scene or two. I figure I should have it up no later than Thursday. (My grandpa has a couple of doctor's appointments this week so that's why the longer delay with posting the next chapter.)

A/N: *sends Eternally a new keyboard* Sorry about that ... kinda. ;) Just wanna thank everyone for their reviews. =)


	77. Chats, Discoveries, and Sneaky Ghosts

Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 77

* * *

It was a week after Albus had been to Crouch's house. Severus was currently glaring at him from across his desk. He had managed to delay this conversation for various reasons for a week, but he eventually ran out of excuses.

"Albus, what's wrong with him?"

"Nothing is wrong with him."

"Dammit. I saw it with my own eyes. He went into a sort of trance. His scar became inflamed and then started bleeding. His pulse was racing. He's been going to see Poppy almost every week since the second task. What's wrong with him?"

"Did you really have to barge into her office and just start going through Harry's file?" asked Albus as a diversion. "What happened to discretion?"

"There wasn't anyone around when I done it. I'm not a complete fool. Poppy was at dinner, so instead of waiting on her, I decided to look and see for myself."

The Headmaster rolled his eyes. "And how well did that excuse work when she caught you?"

"Not very well, to be honest, but I want to know what's wrong with him. She can't tell me because she doesn't know that he's my son. You're not telling me anything, and he _won't_ tell me because he was told to only talk to you. How else was I supposed to find out what's wrong with him? I'm concerned. I'm a Potion's Master for Merlin's sake. If he's sick, I might be able to find a way to cure him."

"Severus, he's not sick. I do not know why he has had a sudden influx of visits to the hospital wing but I seriously doubt it has anything to do with what you witnessed."

"What did I witness then?" demanded the irate potion's master.

"Severus, I only have theories, nothing concrete."

"Theories are fine," he snapped.

"No. They are not. I will not have you get worked up over something that might not even be right."

"I deserve to know, Albus. He's my son," he reiterated.

And to that, Albus could only nod. The man did deserve to know, but he was afraid that if he imparted what he suspected then Severus would clam back up and Harry might never learn the truth. Between what he observed at Crouch's house and Harry's letter, he could pretty much say with certainty that Voldemort was behind Harry's name finding it's way into the goblet.

But he still didn't know how Crouch actually fit into the picture. The man was a stickler for the rules and a strong supporter of the light. As Severus had said before, he sent his own son to Azkaban because he had been discovered as a Death Eater.

Why would Voldemort feel _safe_ at that house?

"You do deserve to know Severus. I have the pieces of the puzzle in front of me, but I'm just not sure how they all fit together. Give me time to find the picture that it's trying to make and I'll share it with you."

"I can help you with that picture if you just tell me what the pieces are."

Albus shook his head no. He couldn't take the chance that Severus would refuse to tell Harry the truth.

Furious at being denied information about his own son, Severus stormed out of the Headmaster's office.

* * *

Harry grinned as he looked around. He had done it. He had found another way into the Founder's Library that didn't require him going down a pipe and climbing over rocks.

He had been unable to sleep ... again and figured it was time to try the Room of Requirement idea. He still doubted this was the only way in, but at least he could use it and be able to spend more time in there.

The Room of Requirement had given him five puzzle doors to get through. Each one harder than the previous one. In fact, the last door had stumped him for at least 45 minutes. He entered the room, grabbed the book he had left out, and sat down to read.

But as soon as he had done that, his wand warmed against his arm. "Meh, figures," he muttered.

Putting the book back down, he exited out the same way he came in hoping that he didn't have to figure out puzzles to leave because that would really suck.

Twenty minutes later he was back in bed. He figured he had enough time for a small nap before he had to get up for classes.

* * *

"When do you find out about the 3rd task?" asked Gabriella.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Gabriella, Morgana (a 3rd year Ravenclaw), Luna (also a 3rd year Ravenclaw) and Astoria ( a 3rd year Slytherin) were sitting in the nearly empty Great Hall.

The 4th years were working on Transfiguration and the 3rd years were doing something with Arithmancy.

Well most of them were. Harry and Gabby were mostly whispering to themselves.

"May 23rd, a month before the task."

"So three more weeks?"

"Yes. Sometimes I get nervous thinking about it - wishing it was here already - then another part of me hopes that it doesn't get here at all."

Gabriella pouted. "You don't want me to congratulate you when you become the worlds youngest Tri-Wizard Champion?"

Harry turned red.

"Get a room already," the entire group said. Then they all burst out laughing.

"Herm-oh-ninny?"

Everyone turned towards Krum's voice.

"Oh, Victor! I completely lost track of time. Harry will you - ?" She pointed to her books.

"Yeah," he said smiling.

Ron, thankfully, had calmed down some towards Krum but it had taken Harry about three hours to get through to him one night. The figurine of Krum that Ron has is still missing an arm though. He still couldn't understand why Ron was being so temperamental about the whole thing but figured as long as no one was yelling or throwing curses that it was fine.

Harry then refocused on the complicated Transfiguration drawing he was supposed to be doing.

* * *

"Harry, when are you going to let me tell the Headmaster?" asked Madam Pomphrey as he sat down in a chair across from her desk.

"Not yet. I'm not ready for anyone else to know."

"Have you not told your friends?" asked the medi-witch with just a touch of suspicion in her voice.

Harry shook his head no.

"Why not?"

"Because then they'll know how big of a freak I really am. If I can help it, they won't ever find out."

"Mr. Potter. I've told you before that you are _not_ a freak. I don't know where you heard that you were, but you need to forget it." Madam Pomphrey paused for a minute and looked at him curiously. "Where do your friends think you are going to once a week?"

"Oh they know that I'm coming here. They just think that I'm after a headache relieving potion."

Madam Pomphrey sighed. "How are your classes coming along now that you know the truth and it's really had time to settle in?"

"They're going alright. I've been paying closer attention to my power usage though. It's just natural for me to know how much power to use to try to get the spell right, so concentrating on it has caused more than one thing to blow up." Harry recalled the clock he had been trying to transfigure in class that had simply exploded into a million pieces. McGonagall had made him write an extra essay because of it.

"You need to be aware of how much power you're using but if concentrating on it causes things to blow up, then you may need to go back to the way you were doing it previously."

"But what if I accidently put too much power behind something?"

"Has this ever been a cause of concern for you before?"

"No ma'am. I've just always known how much to use. Sometimes I get told to use a bit more power ... normally as a way to show my classmates what can happen when you use too much," he muttered under his breath before he continued speaking, "but even then I just know how much to put behind it. Thinking about it causes bad things to happen."

"Which professor asks you to do that?" inquired Madam Pomphrey curiously.

"Professor Flitwick."

"You know. It's entirely possible that he knows ... or at least suspects just how powerful you really are."

Harry's eyes widened. "I hope not!"

"Harry. Come the end of term, I'm going to be telling the Headmaster the truth, whether you give me permission to or not. You need to get it around your head now that someone else will know your secret."

"No!"

"I can't truly help you understand what you're going through. He can."

"You said you wouldn't tell anyone."

"I was hoping by now you would at least have agreed to let me tell the Headmaster."

"I'm not having any _real_ problems in class. I don't have any questions about what I'm going through. Why would you tell him? I don't want anyone to know!" Harry stood and picked up his book bag. "I'm starting to wish I never asked what was wrong with me."

Before Madam Pomphrey could stop him, he stormed out of her office - which was _supposed_ to be locked and only able to be opened by her hand.

* * *

Upon leaving her office, Harry made a beeline for the lake. It was starting to warm up some since it was early May, but there was still a slight chill to the air from the rain that had momentarily stopped, but at the moment he didn't care. He just wanted to be numb ... to be invisible.

As he stared out over the lake, he sighed.

He didn't ask to be different, he didn't ask to be powerful.

Telling his friends was definitely out of the question. They would both be understanding and supportive but he knew that eventually Hermione would bombard him with questions about what everyone's magical signatures looked like plus demand to know what all those books he had read said. Ron would be hurt that he didn't trust him originally with the knowledge that he could see the 'glowy things' as he had previously called it and now ... well ... he was afraid that Ron might get jealous again and he didn't want to lose Ron's friendship. Neville might understand but then again, he might also not want to be friends if he found out how big of a freak he was. Gabriella might break up with him if she learned the truth.

No, it was best to keep them in the dark.

As for the Headmaster. He didn't want the man to know because what if he screwed up somewhere along the way and disappointed him? He couldn't handle that, couldn't handle the disappointment that he imagined would appear in the Headmaster's eyes.

He wanted to tell Sirius and Remus but was afraid they wouldn't talk to him anymore because of how much power he supposedly had. It clearly wouldn't take much for him to blow them up. He didn't want his god parents to be afraid of him.

Harry threw a rock out on the lake and watched as it skipped on the water.

McGonagall? She was his head of house and while he liked her, he didn't feel close enough to her to go get advice.

Flitwick perhaps? No. While he felt closer to the tiny professor than he did McGonagall, he didn't want to give him anymore of a reason to see him any differently than the rest of his classmates.

Snape ...?

No.

Sure the man is the only person around that has really sat him down and talked to him ... or at least tried to (he was trying desperately to _not_ think of the sex talk). He trusted him, has for a while now, but would he be able to help him understand what he was going through? Of course, there was also this unexplained comfort that he received from the man. He sometimes liked to imagine it was what a son would feel around his father. (He snorted at the horror that would appear on Snape's face if he knew that Harry actually looked up to him.)

Harry threw another rock out on to the lake. He watched as it skipped four times before falling under the water.

No, he couldn't tell Snape. For all he knew Snape would back away from him as if he had something contagious and besides, Madam Pomphrey said that only the Headmaster could help him.

He sighed again. Could Dumbledore really help him understand all this power? Would he be disappointed in him if he screwed up royally, which he was bound to do?

Harry was cut off in his thinking because he saw Gabriella heading his way with a smile on her face. She must have done well on her Arithmancy exam today judging by her look.

* * *

"Yer nervous 'arry?" asked Hagrid. It was two weeks before he was to find out what the third task was.

"I'm trying not to think about it actually."

Hagrid laughed.

Harry then turned to glare at Hagrid's latest class project. First Blast Ended Skrewts. Now they were taking care of what Hagrid called a Mani-Squid. It had the hard shell like the skrewts did but also had 8 arms like the giant squid.

They had been working with them for about two months. The Mani-Squids weren't half as hostile as the skrewts were but their bites still hurt.

Seamus had been bitten a week ago and had to spend the night in the infirmary.

The class was currently observing its behavior around different environments. So far, they had not found the type of environment that it preferred.

"AHHH!" Harry looked over to see Malfoy running away (with his arms flailing over his head no less) from one of the creatures while screaming his head off. As Hagrid went over to catch it, Harry and Ron couldn't help but burst out in laughter.

* * *

It was currently 2:30 a.m. on May 20th, the Saturday before Harry would find out what the third task was.

He was sitting in the Founder's Library reading a book that dealt with magical signatures that he had come across. (He had devoured all that Madam Pomphrey had on the subject. Since he was a freak, he figured this way he'd be an informed freak.) Or rather he was trying to read it. It was written by some guy named Wordsworth and it wasn't in English. (The book had been in one of the book cases without a house symbol on it.) Evidently this guy could see magical signatures as well and went on to describe what it meant and what other things he could do.

However, it was written in a mix between Latin and French, which made Harry have to stop to look up a word every 2 minutes.

Why a book would be written in both Latin and French was beyond him, but it was.

Ever since Harry had found the alternate access through the Room of Requirement, he had been coming down about every 3 or 4 nights to read.

It had been so tempting to tell Ron and Hermione what he had run across but didn't. Of course, there was also the fact that he couldn't. Every time he tried to mention it or write it down, he would get a searing headache.

Harry was so engrossed in trying to read the book on magical signatures that he never realized he wasn't alone anymore.

He heard a throat clear and nearly jumped out of his skin.

Heart pounding wildly, he slowly turned around and found himself face to face with Nearly Headless Nick.

* * *

A/N: Seems the familial bond that happens between parents and children has been tugging at Harry a little. *grins mischievously* I'm not sure how long the next chapter will be. Right now it's about the same length of this one, but I could probably combine it with the next one. It just depends on if I want to leave you all with another cliffhanger or not. ;-) Either way, we're almost to the third task. :)

I, myself, have been a busy bee. I'm doing an overhaul of the future chapter's that I've already written. I moved up 4 things in the timeline by several months, so I'm currently re-working my outline and making them fit in the dates on the calendar while still being believable. (I actually have a 1991-1998 calendar printed off to accompany my notes so that I can keep my dates straight and a sticky note of Harry's class schedule for the year I'm working on next to my monitor.) I have paper's everywhere around me. Some on the wall, some in the floor, some on my bed, and even some on my little lap table that my netbook rests on. Heh. I woke up this morning and found that I had slept on some of them. Evidently I'm hoping to work by osmosis. *chuckles*

My grandfather has three doctor's appointments tomorrow so I'm aiming for Saturday for the next chapter to be posted. =)

Oh .. and before I forget. Some other standard A/N's that I've not posted in a while. =)

A/N: Albus knows that Harry didn't put his name in the goblet and has figured out that Crouch did but even though he knows this, he cannot keep Harry from competing. Harry's entry name was put in the goblet in his handwriting, which formed the magical contract. If Crouch wouldn't have gotten a hold of Harry's signature then this fiasco might never have happened.

A/N: Warning, Harry will be powerful, but he won't be super powerful. He will still have to struggle with certain things as well as deal with other childhood issues. Harry is going to be incredibly smart, but don't worry about him out-doing Hermione ... to an extent anyway. (Evil smirk) And to alleviate some fears, he won't all of a sudden wake up and realize woah, I can take on the world! It will be a slow on going process. (Smile)

Wow.. my A/N section is starting to get as long as the actual chapter. *face_palm*

*Set's out cake for my reviewer's then slinks away to start proofreading the next chapter*


	78. Prelude to the Third Task

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter! *pouts*

A/N: Normally I only put these at the end of the chapter, but I just wanted to say that I've not jumped the shark. Just bare with me. =)

* * *

Chapter 78

* * *

"Nick! You nearly scared me to death." Heart still racing, Harry fully turned around in his chair. "So you _do_ know about this place."

Nick nodded. "I thought you might have meant this library. We've been watching you since you asked me for permission to remove the books."

Harry frowned. "You know, I'm already paranoid because of Myrtle. You admitting that you've been following me around is not helping."

Nick laughed, which made his head wobble on his neck. "We've not been following you. We've just been ... watching you while you were in this room, mostly."

"We?"

"Er ... yeah. What do you know about the enchantments placed on this room?"

"I know that I can't talk about this place outside of here nor write it down. I can get around it to some extent but even then I get a headache."

"Have you told anyone?"

"No. I wanted to tell the Headmaster but the two times I've thought about it, I've been nearly knocked unconscious. I got the hint. I can't tell anyone that this places exists."

"Well, when myself and the other's became the house ghosts, we were told about this room. We also have spells on us that prevents us from talking about it. This room is to stay a secret except for those that find it, like yourself, or for those that meet the other's."

"Other's?"

"Do you remember that other question you asked me?"

"About the Founder's Ghosts? Yeah. Why?"

"Well, one of the things that us ghosts can do is follow people unobserved ... to an extent. It's been brought to my attention that you've been trying to create a spell that will let you send a letter to a ghost. In fact, you've been devoting a lot of time to this project, have you not?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Nick, I'm starting to feel paranoid again."

Nick smiled. "Well, first of all, you're on the right path on your task. You just don't have access to the spell creation books that are in the restricted section. With your ... rather curious issues with Latin, and because of who you are, it was decided that I get to answer your question."

Harry's eyes were wide. "Are you telling me that their ghosts really did linger here?"

Nick smiled and floated to the side. To his astonishment, 4 ghosts appeared in front of him.

Harry recognized them immediately from their portraits. A light bulb suddenly went off in his head. "You were all at Nick's Death Day party two years ago!"

"Kid's got a good memory," the ghost next to Nick said.

"You are the original Founders ...?" he trailed off. He just wanted to make sure. He didn't figure Nick as one to pull the wool over his eyes.

"We are, indeed, the ghost of the Founders Harry Potter. I am Rowena Ravenclaw."

"You know my name?" he asked rather stupidly.

"Someone explain to me how an idiot found this room?" the ghost on the end said. That had to be Slytherin.

Harry frowned. "I'm not an idiot."

"He knows that Harry. We've been watching you grow and learn ever since you've entered the castle," the ghost next to Ravenclaw said.

Harry's eyes widened.

"Way to make him feel even more paranoid than he already is, Helga," the ghost closest to Nick said. "I'm Godric Gryffindor."

He looked from Nick to them and back again.

"But ... the Headmaster ... he _must_ ... he's gotta know about you."

"He has mused out loud about us possibly existing, especially when he renews the wards surrounding the castle."

"A Gryffindor, of all things," muttered the ghost on the far right.

"There's nothing wrong with being a Gryffindor," pointed out Harry boldly.

"So Godric tells me."

Harry suddenly had about a thousand questions flow through his head.

Evidently it showed on his face because the ghost of Ravenclaw asked, "What were you going to ask us in the letter you were planning on writing?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I was hoping to get someone's permission to be able to remove a couple of books from here. Nick wouldn't give it to me and I've almost gotten caught sneaking out a few times to come down here and plunder."

"Sorry Harry. I don't have the authority to give you permission to remove anything from here," admitted Nick.

Harry simply nodded.

"Harry, we cannot allow anyone to see these books. Some of these subjects have become forbidden magic in your time," Helga Hufflepuff said.

"And some of the ones that we have written can be dangerous - especially in the hands of others," Godric Gryffindor said while glaring at Slytherin.

"I removed them after he left," Salazar said some what haughtily.

"You mean Riddle had access to these books?" asked Harry alarmed.

"Not all of them - just some of mine. You found the other door off of my chamber right?"

Harry nodded.

"After he left the school, we pooled our magic and had those books brought into here."

"They would have been put into here sooner if we would have known about your Chamber of Secrets."

"That's why it's called a secret. No one is supposed to know about it."

"Can we not argue," Nick interjected. It looked like he was used to playing a mediator. "Are you going to be alright Harry if I go, or did you want me to stay?"

"Er ... I should be fine. Thanks Nick. I mean it."

Nick nodded and faded from view.

Harry then thought of something and frowned. "It shouldn't matter though about other's seeing the books. Only a parselmouth can touch them."

"What?" three of the four ghosts demanded.

"I figured it out my third time in here. The books are spelled to where only a parselmouth can touch them. I thought only Slytherin - er Mr. Slytherin - could speak to snakes."

"He was the only one of us that could."

Harry watched 3 of the ghosts turn toward the now fading out Slytherin.

"What did you do?" they demanded.

"It was just an extra precaution," he said glaring at them.

"That's what the wards around the room and on the door is for," scathed Rowena.

"There aren't any wards on the door," said Harry confused.

He watched as Helga went over and put her ghostly hand on the door and mutter something. The doorway flared with a multitude of colors.

Harry turned red. He had never even noticed.

"Have you came across our diaries yet?"

Harry shook his head. "I saw them on the list when I cast a cataloguing spell but I couldn't find them."

"Hmm ... Well, when we created the school, we essentially put ourselves and our magic into it. When we died, we knew that we would become ghosts to continue to watch over it," explained Rowena.

"What I was thinking, I'll never understand," muttered Salazar.

"When we became ghosts we hid ourselves, choosing not to interfere with the running of the school. None of us had been a Headmaster or Headmistress for many years when that time came so no one was expecting us to suddenly turn up as ghosts back then. For the first 100 years or so, we left the Library to where only the current Headmaster of the school had access to the books."

"Then one took over that didn't have the students best intentions at heart," added Godric. "So we sealed the doorway. The couple of Headmasters after him also were not up to par, so we let it stay hidden."

"And you've never unsealed it since then?"

"We have for a few other Headmasters that have managed to contact us in various ways but we've always sealed it back. There have also been a handful of intelligent students that has managed to find the room over the years."

"I'm really surprised that Dumbledore doesn't have access to this place," mused Harry out loud, completely oblivious to the fact that they had just insinuated he was intelligent.

"If he were to ask for it, we would grant it," said Helga. "But he needs to ask to see it."

"Not that it would matter," huffed Godric.

"Oh get your knickers out of a twist. It's probably reversible," Salazar sneered - very reminiscent of Snape.

"You better hope it is," said Godric.

"Or what? You'll haunt me forever? You already do that."

Harry just shook his head and then focused on Salazar. "A Basilisk for a pet?"

"In my defense I really didn't expect her to live for as long as she did."

"You do know that she killed someone then almost killed me."

"Yes. She was meant to be a guardian to my chambers only. She was never meant to be a weapon, despite the rumor going around that it was her sole purpose. The girl looked into her eyes which was instant death. We couldn't have prevented it. As for almost killing you, we are aware of that. When the phoenix cried on you, we exerted ourselves using what magic us ghosts have to keep you alive, giving the tears time to work."

Harry's eyes bugged out. He thought back to that day. "The air ... the air around me changed. I could feel the magic in it. I just assumed that it had something to do with whatever Fawkes was doing to me." He was so engrossed in his memory that he missed the exchanges of looks that the 4 ghosts shared.

"And I have to know," said Harry after a moment. "A girls' bathroom for the entrance?"

"I'm a guy. No one would have looked for the entrance there."

Harry just shook his head. "I have a personal question for you," he said hesitantly. "Why do you hate muggleborns so much?"

"When you read my diary, you'll see the reason. I assure you it's a valid one at that."

He had more questions for Slytherin but didn't want to bombard the man with them. "So where are your diaries at? Do I have permission to read them? There's so little written about your time."

"In the bottom of the bookshelves, you'll find a false panel. They are there and you have permission to read them."

"Thank you." Harry then turned to Salazar. "I didn't know that parseltongue could be written." Evidently he couldn't help himself.

"It's called parselscript in the written form. That reminds me. You are not of my bloodline. How did you get the ability?"

"According to Dumbledore, when Voldemort tried to kill me and the curse rebounded, he inadvertently gave me some of his abilities." Harry shrugged. "I don't mind talking to snakes. The visions of him I can do without though."

Harry then got up and started searching for the diaries. After about 10 minutes he had them all placed on the table but before he could do anything else with them, his wand warmed against his arm.

"Bah. I gotta go. It's 5am. Before I do though, I'm curious as to why your portraits wouldn't talk to me."

Rowena chuckled. "They are charmed to only talk to the teachers of the school. I'm sure you're not the only one that's wondered that."

"Oh. Can I uh ... contact you all again if I have questions?" asked Harry hopefully. "I'll try not to bother you all too much. I'm sure you have lots of stuff to be doing ..."

"We'll be around but you'll only be able to call us if you're in this room," said Helga kindly.

"It was nice to actually meet you Harry. We'll see you later," chimed in Rowena.

The 4 ghosts faded away with Godric laughing at Slytherin over something.

Once Harry was safely behind the curtains of his bed, he laid back and stared at the canopy.

He had met the ghosts of the founders of the school.

He couldn't believe it.

His last thought before he had drifted off to sleep was that they seemed surprisingly normal.

* * *

"Mister Potter, you need to go out towards the Quidditch Pitch. You'll see Mr. Bagman there along with the other champions," McGonagall said as she approached him at dinner.

Harry had been waiting all day to be told what the final task was going to be so he jumped up and headed out towards the pitch.

When he got there, he stared at the field in horror. The bleachers were moved off to one side and there was some type of hedge growing where the field should be. Except it kind of looked longer. He couldn't tell from where he was standing.

"Don't worry Mr. Potter. After the 3rd task, your Quidditch Pitch will be returned to normal," Bagman said as he undoubtedly saw the shock on Harry's face.

"Now that we're all here, I can tell you that the final task will take place here in one month. Anyone venture a guess as to what this is behind me?"

"Maze," grunted out Krum.

"That's right. There will be dark creatures and other things in the maze between you and the Tri-Wizard cup. The champion that gets to the cup first will be declared the winner. Now since Mr. Diggory and Mr. Potter are tied for first place, they will enter the maze first. Mr. Krum in second place will enter the maze 5 minutes after them and Ms. Delacour will enter 5 minutes after Mr. Krum. Any questions?"

When no one spoke up, Mr. Bagman dismissed everyone.

"Harry, could I haff a word with you?"

Surprised, Harry turned around towards Krum. "Er, sure."

Once they were out of ear shot of the others Victor looked down at Harry (he really hated being short) and said, "You are a very good flyer."

"Uh, thanks. I saw you at the World Cup. That was an incredible Wronski Feint you did."

"Thanks. I haff a question for you. Does blood purity not mean anything to you?"

Harry was surprised. "No. Why?"

"Because that seems to be the most important thing to a Slytherin. At my school, they don't take anyone that isn't a pure blood."

Harry's eyes widened. "That's not fair to those that are muggleborn or even half blood."

"I haff never given it a thought until I came here. It's just the way things are. But I see how smart your Herm-oh-ninny is and how powerful you are and it makes me wonder all kinds of things."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the way Krum had said Hermione's name.

"Aren't there -"

Whatever Krum had been about to say, he stopped because they both heard a noise in the Forbidden Forest. Harry automatically shoved Krum behind him.

"_Lumos_," he muttered.

"What is it?" asked Krum.

"I don't know."

The noise happened again. Suddenly Mr. Crouch came stumbling out of the forest.

"Make sure you send off that memo today, Weatherby."

"Mr. Crouch?"

"Isn't that one of your ministry people?"

"It is. Mr. Crouch?" Harry said as he slowly approached the man as he was talking to a tree. "Mr. Crouch?" he said louder.

When Harry touched his shoulders and the man turned around, he saw it in his eyes. Mr. Crouch had the imperious curse on him.

Surprised, Harry took a step back. He then saw clarity break through in the man's eyes. He was fighting it.

"Potter. Must get to Dumbledore. Done a horrible thing. My son. Need to explain."

Harry watched him go back to talking to the tree.

"You need to help me. We need to get him to Dumbledore."

"He's crazy."

"He's cursed. Dumbledore can fix it. Come on Mr. Crouch. Let's get you to the Headmaster."

Together, he and Krum had got him walking in the right direction. It wasn't an easy task. The man kept trying to stop every two seconds to explain something to Percy.

As they were nearing the castle door, Harry suddenly felt nauseous. He saw Crouch fall over, then Krum, and before he could pull his wand out, his world went black.

* * *

When Harry opened his eyes next, he was in the hospital wing.

Sitting up quickly made him dizzy so he laid back down. Madam Pomphrey and the Headmaster came into his field of view then.

"What happened? Why am I here?"

The Headmaster spoke first. "We were hoping you could tell us. The Head Boy found you and Mr. Krum unconscious on the front steps of the castle last night."

Harry strained his memory. "Victor wanted to talk to me after we found out what the 3rd task was. We were walking near the Forest when ... when Mr. Crouch came bursting through."

"Crouch?"

"Yes sir. He kept saying that he had to get to you to explain what happened then he would act like he was talking to Percy."

"Did he say anything more?"

"Something about his son and that he shouldn't have done it. Victor and I were helping him to the castle when ... when I saw him and Victor fall. I don't remember anything after that."

"Well Crouch wasn't with you two when you were found."

"Were we stunned?"

Albus sighed. "No, Mr. Potter. You and Mr. Krum were caught in the after wash of the Killing Curse."

Harry's eyes widened. "So someone tried to kill us?"

"No. Now that we know there was a 3rd person with you, and he is missing, we can only assume he was the target."

"There's one other thing sir. Mr. Crouch - he had the imperious curse on him."

The Headmaster's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"I am. I could see it in his eyes."

"I'll have Hagrid search the grounds to see if he can find Crouch, though I doubt he will. And you're certain you didn't see anyone else?"

"No sir. I didn't see anyone else. Is Krum alright?"

"He woke up this morning."

"Didn't he tell you about Mr. Crouch?"

"I'm afraid Headmaster Karkaroff didn't give him much of a chance. As soon as Mr. Krum had awoken, he was whisked off back to his ship."

"Are you in any pain Mr. Potter?" asked Madam Pomphrey.

"Just nauseous."

"I'll give you something for that. Are you up for visitors?"

Harry nodded.

"Harry, I want you to keep this between us until I can figure it out. Just tell everyone you don't remember what happened."

"Yes sir," said Harry confused.

And so he did. Everyone he encountered, he told them he didn't remember what happened. Whether they believed him or not was a different story. He was a horrible liar.

* * *

Severus was currently brewing some potions that he knew Potter would need when there was a knock at the door. Knowing it was the Headmaster he called for him to enter.

"How is he?"

"He woke up about 20 minutes ago. He's fine."

"What does he remember?"

"Everything up until he passed out. There was a third person with him."

"Who?" asked Severus as he stirred the potion.

"Evidently Mr. Crouch had come stumbling out of the Forbidden Forest."

"Crouch?" asked Severus as he turned around - shocked. "Did Harry say what he wanted?"

"To get to me evidently. He had the imperious curse on him but was fighting it. He told Harry that he shouldn't have done something with his son. Harry said that he was confusing. I have Hagrid searching for him in the Forbidden Forest right now, but I doubt he'll find anything. The curse passed straight between Harry and Victor."

"Albus, _could_ Alastor be doing this? I caught him in my stores again and I noticed that some of the Polyjuice ingredients were missing."

"Do you know if they were missing before you caught him in your cupboard again?"

Severus shook his head. "As far as I know they weren't, but I don't see how anyone could have gotten in there without my wards going off."

"I just don't understand how anyone could get close enough to Alastor to curse him. I think it's time I confronted him about the discrepancies. I don't want you anywhere near me when I do that."

"You will not be confronting him alone."

"I won't be alone, Severus."

Before Severus could respond, the Headmaster had walked back out through the door. He scowled. He couldn't leave his potions else they would ruin, and Albus knew that.

* * *

_Harry,_

_What were you thinking going off some where alone with the Durmstrang champion? I want you to promise by return owl that you won't go anywhere alone again. We still don't know how your name got in that goblet. If someone really is out to kill you, they only have one more chance._

_As for the maze, practice stunning and disarming. A few hexes, jinxes, and curses wouldn't go awry either._

_I'm waiting for your return owl promising that you won't go anywhere alone._

_Love,_

_Padfoot_

"Who is he to tell me not to go anywhere alone?" muttered Harry.

"Harry, he's just concerned for you. While you write him back I'll draw up a list of things for you to learn," said Hermione.

Harry groaned as they both reached for a piece of parchment.

* * *

A week later found Harry stumbling about half blind as he headed towards the shower. He was tired and half asleep, having not slept well. As he got to the doorway, he realized that he didn't have his glasses on.

"_Accio glasses_," muttered Harry. After they zoomed into his hands, he headed down the stairs toward the shower.

It wasn't until he had the cold water on him to wake himself up that he realized he had done that without his wand.

He had summoned his glasses without a wand.

His eyes widened in surprise.

All day long he tried summoning things without his wand but it didn't work. He had told Ron and Hermione about what he had done when they had questioned his odd behavior. He had a suspicion that they thought he was crazy.

* * *

Albus stroked his beard thoughtfully. He had been unable to catch Alastor alone to interrogate him. The Headmaster had even entered Moody's private quarter's at 3 in the morning, but discovered an empty bed.

As far as could tell, Alastor was still teaching his classes so he had waited until the end of one of the man's lectures to confront him, but when he entered the classroom, the students had told him that Moody had left through another door about 5 minutes prior.

So the man _was_ purposefully avoiding him.

Those times that he did catch up with him, he had been surrounded by students or other professor's. It wouldn't do to confront him in such a public place, so for now, he would continue to try to get him alone. The man did have to sleep after all.

* * *

"Mr. Potter, the Headmaster wants to see you after dinner."

"Alright Professor McGonagall."

After he ate, he headed towards the Slytherin table to tell Gabriella he couldn't study with her tonight.

"If I get done early, I'll send you a note."

She nodded and went back to her food.

He then made his way up to the Headmaster's office. When he reached the stone gargoyle he had a dilemma. He didn't know the password. So, he started naming off all the candies that he knew. About 10 minutes later he glared at the gargoyle. "Will you just open already? He asked to see me. Please?"

To his surprise, the gargoyle moved aside and the rotating stairwell appeared. He groaned. He should have just asked to begin with. He hopped up on stairs and rode to the top. There he knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Harry entered. "You needed to see me sir?"

"I did. Have a seat."

As Harry sat down, he saw the magical signature of Professor Snape in the corner. He let his gaze linger there for a second then refocused on the Headmaster. At least an invisible Snape didn't give him the creeps like an invisible Moody did.

"Harry, on the day of the third task, the other Champions will be spending time with their families. I've tried contacting the Dursley's about coming to watch you in the 3rd task but have been unable to get a response back from them."

Harry couldn't help but give a humorless laugh. "The only way they would even consider showing up is if you paid them _and_ told them that I might die."

"That's not something to joke about."

"It's the truth."

Albus frowned. "Is there anyone you want to come cheer you on?"

"Sirius," he answered automatically. "But I suppose him showing up would be bad, so maybe Remus?"

Albus smiled. "I will certainly ask him. Now. I need to ask you a question and I want the truth."

Harry nodded warily.

"Have the Dursley's ever kicked you out of the house?"

Harry snorted. "My aunt has thrown me out every year since I was 5 and accidently blew up Dudley's toy fire truck. It's a ritual between us. Why?"

"How long did you stay out of the house?"

"The most was 3 nights. Normally I would hide at the local park until a police man would find me and take me home. Why?" he asked again.

"And ever since you've been coming to Hogwarts, you've considered it your home?"

Harry nodded and smiled. "I feel more welcome here than I ever have there."

Albus sighed. "Harry, this summer, I checked on the wards surrounding Privet Drive while you were at the Weasley's and discovered that there were none up."

"I thought you said those were blood wards."

"They were. Between your aunt forcing you out of the house and you considering this your home, they failed. As such, you cannot return to the Dursley's - especially with what you just told me."

"Does this mean that I can stay here over the summer?" he asked hopefully.

"No, but it does mean that you can stay with Sirius."

"Really?"

The Headmaster nodded. Harry suddenly felt a strange wave of magic coming from an invisible Snape. It almost felt as if he were hurting. Odd didn't describe it properly though. Dumbledore started speaking again so he re-focused on him. "I need to know what all the Dursley's done to you so we can prosecute them."

Harry frowned. Why would Dumbledore want to prosecute them? It wasn't like he was worth the trouble. "If I never have to see them again, then don't worry about it. No harm was really done."

Harry could _feel_ a glare coming at him from where Professor Snape was standing. Now _that_ was a little unnerving.

"If I'm not going back there, why did you try to get a hold of them to ask if they wanted to come watch the tournament?"

"I ... was trying to keep an optimistic look about the whole thing, to be honest. They are your family after all."

Harry made a face. "Sir, can I as you something?"

"Certainly, my boy."

"Did you ever figure out how my name got in the goblet?"

"Not exactly," said the Headmaster as he sat back in his chair. Harry never noticed that he didn't meet his eyes.

He frowned slightly. "Have you checked Karkaroff? Sirius said that he used to be a Death Eater."

"He didn't put your name into the Goblet of Fire."

"Just wondered. I get a mixed feeling from him."

"Do you get a bad feeling from anyone else here?" asked the Headmaster, instantly curious.

"Professor Moody," he replied automatically. "He likes to follow me around invisibly and it's a tad bit ... disconcerting. Plus he keeps trying to help me."

"I told him to keep an eye on you when your name came out of the Goblet but not to make you feel paranoid and he should _not_ be trying to help you. How has he assisted you?"

"He was the one that suggested flying to me for the first task and handed me some gillyweed for the second ... even though I had already managed to get some. He had also leant Neville a book at the beginning of the year that explained about gillyweed. Had Neville not known about it, I wouldn't have known how to survive underwater for an hour.

"I told Sirius but he told me Moody was a good guy." Harry shrugged then changed the subject when Dumbledore didn't say anything immediately.

"Has Madam Pomphrey talked to you about me yet?" he asked curiously. The weekly visits after he had stormed out of the hospital wing consisted of him popping his head around the corner of her office saying he was fine and basically running away. He wouldn't have put it past her to tell Dumbledore since he wasn't actually staying for more than 3 seconds.

"Should she have?"

"She's been wanting to now for months. I'll let her tell you and _only_ you. I don't want my other professor's to know. I'll be able to stop my weekly visits with her finally. Gabriella thinks I have some deadly disease with as much as I go to the hospital wing."

'She's not the only one,' thought Albus. He chuckled slightly. "I'll certainly ask her. Have you had any more dreams?"

Harry let his eyes flicker to Snape again then refocused on the Headmaster. "Not that I've not written to you about. He has the strength he needs for something, now all he needs is me," said Harry grimly.

"We'll just have to make sure that he doesn't get you then."

Harry nodded.

"Harry ... did Sirius mention any one else to look out for?"

"He, uh ... said Professor Snape is a Death Eater and to stay away from him." He shrugged. "I figured you wouldn't have hired him if he was a Death Eater and my mom wouldn't have dated him if he was as evil as Sirius described. I love Sirius but he's prejudice against all Slytherin's."

"How did you find out Professor Snape and your mother dated?"

"Remus told me," Harry said smiling. Then he said wryly. "I hope no one get's upset that he did." Again, his eyes drifted to where Snape was standing. "It took some getting used to but I believe him because of a photo album I got for my birthday. Besides, despite the fact that he hates me and makes me feel 2 inches tall sometimes, I feel ... safe around Professor Snape. I trust him."

Albus smiled and stroked his beard. "I do not think Professor Snape hates you Harry."

"He sure likes to put me in detention," he scoffed. "Did you ever find Crouch?"

"No. Why?"

"Are you sure he was hit by the killing curse?"

"Not entirely. We just know that one passed between you and Mr. Krum. Why?"

"Because I have a ... er ... object that lets me see where everyone is in the school and I've seen him in Moody's Quarters a few times, especially at night. The last time I saw him was two nights ago. I'd have went to check it out but with my luck, I'd have been caught out after curfew." He had been caught by Professor Sprout a couple of days prior to that while sneaking to the Room of Requirement again.

Albus sat up in his chair. "You were right to stay in your dorm. Was Alastor with him?"

"No sir. He was no where in the vicinity."

"What kind of object is this?"

Harry sighed. "It's a map. My dad, Sirius, Remus, and Pettigrew made it during their school years here."

The Headmaster was clearly intrigued. "The task is in a week and a half. If you happen to see Mr. Crouch on that map again before then, let me know."

Harry stood up to leave. "All right sir. And Professor, when you ask Remus if he'll come, tell him I understand if he has plans already. I'm really not worth the trouble of coming all the way to Hogwarts just to stare at a maze while I no doubt get lost in it."

"I can do that but I seriously doubt that he'll think it a hassle. And Harry, don't tell anyone you aren't going to the Dursley's this year."

"Not even Ron, Hermione, or Gabby?"

"Not yet. I'll call you back up here after the 3rd task to discuss more details with you then."

"Yes sir. Good night Headmaster." Harry hesitated briefly then figured why not. "Good night Professor Snape."

He then shut the door behind him.

* * *

As soon as Harry left, Severus reversed the charm on himself. Albus was chuckling.

"He knew I was here from the moment he set foot in this office."

"He did indeed."

"Go see Poppy. I'll wait right here then we can discuss things."

"Tonight?"

"Yes tonight."

Albus looked him over. "And while I'm gone you won't floo yourself to Remus' cottage or to somewhere that you could apparate to the Dursley's?"

"I'm not promising that."

Albus shook his head then sealed his fireplace up before leaving to go see Poppy. As he closed the door, he heard what sounded like "interfering old codger" come from Severus.

* * *

A/N: Put down the pitchforks, torches, and other sharp object's and let me explain. I promise I've not gone off the deep end nor have I veered off from the main point of the story with one of my side stories.

**The Founder's:** Are they going to suddenly become the focus of this story? No.  
Are they important in the story? For a minor sub-plot or two *shifty*, I use them, but otherwise, they are there for historical purposes.  
If it's only minor, why bring them in at all? Because it's my story and I wanted to play with them! *nods* =) I did try to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why they were still hanging around, since the theory as to why ghosts don't move on including them being afraid to move on. I hope Ravenclaw explained it to where it was understandable and believable. If not, then whenever Harry get's around to reading their journals, I can always try explain it better.  
Is Harry going to talk to them everytime he's down in the F.L.? Nope. He's more interested in reading the books right now. Plus, he doesn't want to bother them.  
How can Dumbledore not know about them? Because unless they are with other ghosts, they keep themselves turned invisible. Otherwise, smart people like Dumbles will be able to take one look at them and recognize them immediately from their portraits. As for Nick's Death Day party, well, they weren't anticipating "live 'un's" to be in attendance.  
If they've been around all this time, why has there been allowed bad things to happen at the school? Because people do not learn if they do not make mistakes. If they had not allowed the bad Headmaster's / Headmistress's to continue their tenor, then when a good one came along, how would anyone know that? As for possessed teacher's, fraud's, and ministry buffoon's, unless a person's life is immediately threatened and their are no other adults around or on route to the location (Harry being bitten by the basilisk, they couldn't have done anything about Myrtle - it was an instant death) they see how things work out themselves. Besides, they can't _quite_ be everywhere at one time.  
Is Harry going to suddenly start seeing them in the hallway or even in his dorm? Nope. The only place he will be able to mention them as ghosts, call on them, talk to them, or anything other than meaning the Houses themselves, he has to be in the Library. The enchantments on that room are very very good, which is why even those that discovered the room and their presence within Hogwarts has never been able to mention it before.  
In other stories, the Founder's have been made into demi-god's. Is that going to be the case here? Nope. My Founder's are going to be prone to mistakes like you, me, and even that person in the back row still holding that pitchfork. Writing all knowing, all seeing, all powerful ghosts is boring - I mean, what else is there to write about if they can do everything.  
Is Slytherin going to be nice and does he agree with Lord Moldy-Shorts? Slytherin is not nice. When Harry get's around to reading the journal's, he'll see the reason he left the castle and why he wanted to bar muggleborns and half-bloods from the school. Over time, he has seen that it was better to let them into the castle, but having not a lot to think about for 1000+'s years will make most people come around to different way's of thinking. As for agreeing with his descendant, at the moment, it looks like he doesn't, but him and Harry do have a conversation on this topic later on, so you'll just have to wait and see.

I hope that answered most of the questions that everyone is going to have. I've not jumped into the deep water. Just bare with me. I promise it'll all make sense as time goes along.

Now ... onto other things. Poor Harry, about every other chapter he ends up in the hospital wing. He really just needs to move in there. ;-) As for Harry's living location after this year, the reason he can't tell anyone is that because legally, he still belong's to the Dursley's, so Dumbles just needs some time to come up with a way to get Harry into either Sirius's custody or Snape's custody without the ministry (or anyone else for that matter *coughLordMoldyPantscough*) finding out.

So, who wants to take bets on what happens when Snape finds out Harry can see magical signatures? (Because Snape will realize that means that Harry is as powerful as Dumbledore.) *grins*

Up next, the third task. I had some fun writing it. =) I'm aiming for a Sunday evening posting. I don't have much editing to do of it, but I do need to add a scene that I thought of while I was at the doctor's appointment with my grandpa the other day. =) (I always carry around paper and pencil just in case my netbook battery dies, plus I've been known to forget idea's as soon as I get the netbook turned on. At least with a notebook and pencil, I can just jot it down right then.)

*Set's out all kinds of sweets, treats, cake, and pie. Then downs an invisibility potion and runs away.*


	79. The Third Task

Disclaimer: I don't own nuttin, 'specially not Harry Potter nor any of the characters.

* * *

Chapter 79

* * *

"Whatcha gonna do today?" asked Ron through a mouthful of food.

"I'll probably go back to the room on the third floor and work on some of these jinxes."

Since he was exempt from his end of the year exams, he had been practicing during that time.

"Are you nervous?" asked Seamus.

"Terrified," admitted Harry.

"Harry!"

Harry looked up to see Cedric beckoning him over. "C'mon. He's waiting!"

He furrowed his brow but picked up the book he was reading. "Good luck with your exams," he told his classmates.

When he entered the side room, he saw Remus standing there. He beamed. He didn't know if he was going to get to show up or not. "I hope it wasn't any trouble for you to come here today."

Remus hugged Harry. "It wasn't any trouble at all. How about we go for a walk and get some fresh air."

"Umm. I'll put this up in the dorm first," he said indicating his book bag.

"Alright. Are you excited?"

"I'm nervous but I feel better prepared for this task than the other two."

"What all have you been practicing?"

Harry pulled out 3 pieces of parchment.

"Wow. A lot it would seem," Remus said while chuckling.

"Hermione and Gabriella are thorough."

After he put his things up, they started walking the grounds outside since it was nice out.

Remus told him about some of the marauder's escapades. Evidently the giant squid had a thing for Sirius. "Every time he got near the shore, it would appear."

As they were nearing the greenhouses, he saw Gabriella walk out with Astoria. He looked at Remus shyly and beckoned Gabriella over.

"Hey Harry! Professor Lupin," she said surprised.

"Gabriella, this is my honorary godfather Remus. Remus, this is my girlfriend Gabby Nott and her friend Astoria Greengrass."

Remus grinned at being introduced formally, despite the fact that he knew the girls from having taught them the previous year. "I hear you've been keeping Harry in line this year?"

"Someone has to," she said cheekily.

"Oh please," said Astoria. "You can't keep them apart."

Harry turned red.

"I need to go. I have my Arithmancy exam after lunch. Will I see you before the task?"

Harry nodded. "You should." He then watched her walk away with Astoria.

"Your parents would have loved to have met her. They would both be proud of you," said Remus.

"Even dad?"

"You mean about her being a Slytherin?"

Harry nodded.

"I'm sure James would have protested some but he would have eventually caved. It never took much prodding when it came to anything you wanted."

"I miss them," sighed Harry. "I don't really remember them but I miss them."

Remus put his arm around Harry's shoulders as they continued walking around the castle.

* * *

It was after dinner. Everyone was filtering into the stands to watch the next task.

Harry, along with the other champions, was in a tent off to the side with their family and friends.

Harry laughed as Remus told a story to Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Gabriella about how he and his dad had tried to scale the outside of the girls dormitories by broom to get someone's attention only to be caught by McGonagall.

"When James found what he thought was the right window, he looked in only to see McGonagall looking out at him. I thought for sure that she was going to kill us when we came inside," he chuckled.

"And I almost did."

Everyone jumped.

"Guests, please head on out to the stands to give our champions a minute to prepare. We will be starting shortly," said Professor McGonagall.

Harry hugged all his friends and Remus as they wished him luck. Gabriella gave him a kiss along with her hug and winked at him.

As they were leaving, Harry saw an invisible Snape hovering in the corner. He walked over there to retrieve the poncho with his name on it.

"Professor?" whispered Harry. Cedric's family was still leaving so he wasn't noticed and there wasn't any use pretending he didn't know he was there because of what happened a week prior in the Headmaster's office.

"I just wanted to wish you luck Potter. After this task, I need to speak with you about something important, about something that cannot wait any longer."

Harry perked up as he pulled the poncho on. He had planned on cornering the professor tomorrow to ask him about whatever this big secret appeared to be. "Alright. And thank you sir."

Harry watched the signature of Snape leave the tent.

The man was confusing but at least he would finally learn what he had wanted to tell him all year.

He then focused on some meditation techniques to calm his nerves now that he didn't have any more distractions in front of him.

* * *

The Headmaster spied Severus entering the stands and smiled. He thought back to the previous weekend when he had disclosed what Madam Pomphrey had told him.

"_What's wrong with him?"_

"_It's like I told you Severus. He's fine."_

"_Albus ..."_

_Albus sighed. Honestly. Severus never let him have any fun. He eyed the man and decided that maybe bluntness was the way to go. "Harry went to Madam Pomphrey because he couldn't find anything in the library that described what he was seeing and became concerned."_

"_He's seeing things?"_

"_Oh yeah," snickered Albus. "Your son is more powerful than I think you realize."_

"_What exactly," asked Severus as he leaned forward, "does that mean?"_

"_This past summer, after learning to meditate, he began to see magical signatures."_

_The window in the Headmaster's office shattered causing Fawkes to squawk in indignation and surprise. Albus waved his wand at it so that it would repair while he looked over at Severus bemusedly. _

"_That would mean ... no. You have to be mistaken. He's not shown any of your power level in anything he does!"_

"_He can control it naturally, Severus. He thought that his power level was normal. Poppy said he passed out when he realized that he was on par with myself, though it wouldn't surprise me if after he's trained it's discovered he has more power than I do."_

_Perhaps that had been the wrong thing to say because Severus became two shades paler. "How can he control that much power naturally?" he asked - clearly not wanting to deal with the implication's that could bring about._

"_How can anyone do anything naturally? It's just something that's done. She said that he didn't think he's ever used half of his power, and the time he came the closest was during the first task to summon his broom."_

_Severus clearly remembered feeling the wave of magic that had washed over him. "Not even half?" he choked out. He reached into one of his robes many pocket's and pulled out a calming draught and downed it. _

_Albus watched the myriad of emotion's go through Severus' eyes. He was starting to panic. Time to derail whatever he was thinking._

"_Severus!"_

_Severus looked up, slightly startled._

"_I've been trying to get your attention for ten minutes."_

Albus chuckled again at the memory, coming back to his own surroundings as Severus sat down in the stands near the other professor's.

Albus had suspected Harry's ability to see magical signatures for a few months now to be honest, especially after the Rita Skeeter incident. He had known that Harry would be powerful but had expected it to be made known in his first year. His name had appeared in the Book of Souls before he had even been born. That wasn't exactly a common occurrence. Of course, Harry had to go and throw them all off by having a natural affinity for controlling his power. He chuckled slightly and watched as Severus said something to Filius.

Thankfully, the discussion of Harry being able to see magical signatures had distracted Severus from talking about Harry's dreams.

And earlier this morning, Severus had informed him that he was going to tell Harry that he needed to talk to him after the task. At the slight nod he received, he assumed that Severus had done so.

* * *

"Welcome to the 3rd task for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. As you can see, behind me, there is a maze. An hour ago, I placed the Tri-Wizard Cup somewhere deep within it. Our contestants will be entering it where they will face many types of obstacles. The first to reach the cup is declared this years Tri-Wizard Tournament Champion!"

The crowd roared.

"First to enter the maze, tied in first placed are the Hogwarts Champions, Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter!"

Harry and Cedric entered the enclosed circle area near where Dumbledore was speaking.

"Entering 5 minutes after them, from Durmstrang, is Victor Krum!"

Krum came out. Harry saw Hermione giggling in the stands. She had mostly stayed with Harry but she did meet his parents in the tent.

"And entering 5 minutes after Victor Krum, from Beauxbaton Academy, is Fleur Delacour!"

Harry laughed because he saw Ron's eyes nearly bug out and Hermione hit him disgustedly.

The Champions gathered around Dumbledore. "Now we'll have people patrolling the outer hedges. If you get into too much trouble and need to call it off, send up red sparks with your wand. They will come in and retrieve you."

They all nodded.

"Get into position. We will begin in a few minutes."

They all moved to where the hedge opened up. "Mr. Diggory, Mr. Potter, at the sound of the canon you may enter the maze."

When it blasted, Harry and Cedric pulled their wands out and entered.

"_Lumos Maxima_," said Harry.

He heard Cedric do the same thing.

At the first split, Harry went left and Cedric went right.

* * *

Back in the stands, Fleur Delacour had just entered the maze and the hedge closed up behind her.

"They can no longer hear us," the Headmaster said to the crowd, "and instead of us waiting in painful silence like we did during the second task, I have come up with a way to see how they are progressing."

Albus then uncovered 4 large spheres and floated them to where everyone could see them.

"I've been told this is something like a muggle television."

The crowd cheered, excited by seeing each of them in action.

* * *

"_Point me Tri-Wizard Cup._"

The wand spun around and Harry headed in the direction it pointed to just to run into a dead end.

He jogged back the other way and found a new path, only to be brought up short by some type of long snake.

"A snake?" Harry laughed. He then started hissing to it.

* * *

In the stands, everyone watched mesmerized - except Minister Fudge. He appeared to be spluttering in shock.

"Calm down Cornelius. Being a parselmouth does not make him evil."

"You knew about this?"

Albus nodded. "It was discovered his second year."

* * *

Harry had just nodded at the snake and cast a spell that would temporarily put a protective barrier around it so no one else could hurt it. He hissed his thanks and took off at a jog again.

In the stands, every one watched as the champions fought various things. Surprisingly, Harry did seem to have it the easiest. He encountered far less than the other champion's.

"Merlin!" exclaimed Harry. Everyone turned to see what he had come up on. When a Dementor floated into view, the crowd shrieked.

Gabriella felt her bracelet warm a second before Harry called out, _"Expecto Patronum_!"

"Woah!" the crowd exclaimed. A corporeal stag had leapt out of Harry's wand and circled the Dementor.

"Wait a minute, you're a boggart!" exclaimed Harry. "_Riddikulus_!" he cried out a second later.

The boggart dementor exploded into a million pieces. He then seemed to realize that his patronus was still standing there.

Harry waved his wand to cancel it and watched as it leapt back into his wand tip.

The area became a lot darker when it winked out.

* * *

As everyone exclaimed over the patronus, Severus leaned over to whisper to the Headmaster, "How did he keep the patronus going when he cast the 2nd spell."

"No idea," said the Headmaster, clearly amused as well as intrigued. He turned to look at Severus and even though it was brief, he saw the pain in the man's eyes at the fact that his son' patronus represented James instead of himself. He whispered, "Severus..."

"Don't," he snapped.

Albus sighed and returned his focus back to the spheres.

* * *

Harry rounded the corner to find another empty row. As he was jogging down it, he heard Fleur scream.

"Fleur?" yelled Harry.

She screamed again.

Harry took off racing down the row to her voice only to be brought up by one of Hagrid's mani-squids. It was huge - easily 8 feet long.

Thankfully, they had discovered in class that it was easily distracted by shiny things.

Harry quickly pulled some leaves off of the hedge and cast, "_Lucere_" on them. It made them glisten and the thing went for them and not him.

As Harry neared the next split, he saw a jet of red sparks shoot up in the air. 'That must be Fleur,' he thought.

* * *

In the crowd, they watched as the Beauxbaton's Champion was brought out by McGonagall and Sinastra. A plant had gotten her.

Harry, meanwhile, was running from Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewt.

"_Stupefy! Impedimentia! Stupefy_!" Then he tripped over his own feet. "_Impedimentia_!" he yelled as he rolled away.

The last one hit the underside of the Skrewt where there was no shell which slowed it down. He then took off in the other direction.

"I've _really_ got to talk to Hagrid about his pets," muttered Harry.

The crowd laughed - while Hagrid just grinned.

* * *

Albus was watching the three champions when he saw something strange on Krum's sphere. It was like he was hit by a curse. The angle was bad though, so he couldn't be sure but since no one else had been casting at that time in the maze, it wasn't one of the other contestants.

Perhaps 10 minutes later, Krum came upon Diggory.

"_CRUCIO_!"

The entire stadium stood up, alarmed.

On Harry's sphere, they saw him react to Cedric's screams.

Harry couldn't find a direct path to get to Cedric so he quickly found what he thought was the closest point to the screams, took a deep breath, pointed his wand at the hedge and yelled, "_REDUCTO_!"

It shot a hole through it.

As Harry climbed through, he saw Cedric twitching on the ground with Krum pointing his wand at him.

"_Stupefy_!" he shot at Krum.

He then ran over to Cedric. "Are you alright?"

Cedric caught his breath and nodded before slowly standing up with Harry's help. "He seemed like an okay guy."

Harry grimaced. "He is an okay guy." At Cedric's shocked looked, he explained what he meant. "He has the Imperious curse on him."

In the stands, the crowd gasped.

"How can you tell?" asked Cedric.

"Moody spent 3 months on that curse with us. How to fight it, how to recognize it. I saw it in his eyes before I stunned him."

Cedric walked over to Krum and knelt down beside of him as if examining him. He then slowly stood back up. "Reckon we should send sparks up for him?" he asked once he was sure he had shaken off the effects of the curse.

"Yeah. Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewt is two rows over."

Cedric then sent sparks up over Krum's body. "Back to it?" He indicated the maze.

"Hold on." Harry attempted to transfigure a leaf into a piece of paper. It worked but it was sloppy. "I'm glad McGonagall didn't see me do that. She'd give me a weeks worth of detention." Harry then wrote on the piece of paper using his wand, 'Has imperious curse on him'.

"You can't transfigure a leaf but you can write with your wand?" asked Cedric as he watched what Harry had done with fascination.

"I'm pants at Transfiguration. I've been able to write with my wand since my first year."

Harry stood back up and they walked to the intersection together. He turned left and Cedric turned right.

Then it was down to two.

* * *

In the stands, Albus had rushed to where Krum was brought out. Cornelius was right behind him. After a quick examination, Albus nodded. "He does indeed have the imperious curse on him."

"We need to find out who put it on him," said Cornelius to one of his body guard Auror's.

* * *

While the adults were discussing Krum, the spectators watched as Harry encountered an anti-gravity enchantment. His glasses floated up and hair stood straight up on end. His shirt (he was in muggle attire) and poncho also kept trying to ride up.

When Harry took the next step, he crashed into the ground.

"Ow..."

After a fight with devil's snare, Harry came upon something that he had thought was only a myth.

A sphinx.

The crowd ooh'd and awe'd except for Hermione. "If he gets the riddle wrong, that sphinx will kill him!"

"This is Hermione's area of expertise, not mine," he mumbled.

In the stands, Hermione flushed.

"Okay. Let me hear it."

The sphinx nodded and recited a riddle.

"I've heard that before," he mumbled. He paced back and forth for a couple of minutes then burst out, "A Spider! The answer is a spider!"

The sphinx stretched its legs and moved to let Harry pass. "Thank you Gabriella," he muttered. She had begged him to help her with a puzzle book that included a chapter on riddles.

He ran down the path. There were no alternate paths that he could see. When he rounded the next corner as he followed the maze he saw it.

"The cup!" he squeaked.

Taking off at a full tilt run, he started heading toward it. But then Cedric came out of no where in front of him.

There was no way he could out run him.

Movement suddenly caught Harry's eyes.

An acromantula!

"Cedric, on your left!"

Cedric ducked right to avoid the spider clawing at him.

"_Stupefy!_" yelled Harry. He judged that he used about half of his power level but the spider so large that the spell merely bounced off of it.

However, it did make the spider realize that Harry was there.

It quickly scuttled towards him. When Harry tried to run, he realized he couldn't. There was devil's snare in this part of the maze as well, and it had caught a hold of his ankle.

"_Lumos Hren_!" He shot a spell at the plant, which then released him. When he looked up, the spider was over him, using the hedges to walk on.

Before he could react, it picked him up and started wrapping him in a web.

Harry pointed his wand at the pinchers and yelled, "_Expelliarmus_!"

As he was falling, he realized in hind sight that was perhaps _not_ the best spell to use.

When he landed, he felt his leg break. However, he ignored it and shot "_Stupefy_" at the underside of the spider.

Harry watched as the spider toppled over.

He then realized that Cedric had shot a stunning spell at the same time he had. He had actually forgotten about Cedric.

Then, he collapsed fully to the ground.

"Harry, are you alright?"

"No. My leg is definitely broken. I think I'm just going to move into the hospital wing."

Cedric chuckled. "I don't know a binding spell but I do know a pain numbing one."

Harry nodded so Cedric cast it on his leg.

"Help any?"

"Some." Harry then glanced at the cup. "Take it. As soon as you do, then Madam Pomphrey can fix me."

Cedric looked at the cup longingly but shook his head. "No. You've saved me twice in here. It should go to you."

Harry shook his head. "I'm not even supposed to be in the tournament. I certainly didn't enter. You're the Hogwarts Champion, not me. Take it."

"No. I wouldn't have got past the first task if it wasn't for you so actually that's 3 times you've helped me."

"I was told about the dragons and I saw Karkaroff and Madam Maxime near the enclave. It was just fair to put us all on even ground," Harry gritted out around the pain in his leg.

Cedric glanced at the cup again then back at Harry. "I'm not taking it."

Harry sighed. "I'm not going to win any races with a broken leg."

In the stands, the crowd watched with anticipation.

"Together," Harry said finally. "Let's take it together. It'll still be a Hogwarts victory but you'll have to help me to the cup. I doubt I'll be able to get there on my own."

That seemed acceptable so together, the two of them headed towards the cup.

The crowd was cheering.

As Cedric helped Harry up, he asked, "What will you do with your half of the money?"

Harry steadied himself before leaning on Cedric. "No idea. You?"

"Put it towards an apprenticeship if I get one."

Harry sucked in a deep breath. His leg really hurt and he couldn't put hardly any pressure on it. He could tell it wasn't just fractured, it was broke. "What are you hoping to do?"

"Hopefully get a job in the law enforcement department at the ministry, like my dad."

Harry nodded.

They approached the cup. "On three. One. Two. Three."

When they both grabbed a handle, they were whisked away across the land.

"What the-?" Albus said as he stood up. "When I put that cup in the maze, it was _not_ a port key."

* * *

A/N: First of all, I wanna thank everyone for the review's that I'm getting. I really do appreciate them. =) It always brightens my day. *hugs to everyone*

A/N: Now as for those that took me up on my bet, since some of you got the calming draught right, you each get half a cupcake. His swift mood change also caused a window to explode. Clearly accidental magic can happen at any age. ;-)

As for the viewer. While appliances like tv's and such can't work in the magical world (too much magic floating around), I figured that Dumbledore would be crafty and smart enough to come up with something. And until the champion's were brought out of the maze, none of them knew the viewer had been focused on them. No one knew about the Viewer's existence either until Dumbles uncovered it at the last moment. No one else can make them and they require a specific set of circumstances in order to make them. It had to be boring from the normal book point of view not knowing what was going on for so long, so I needed a way to remedy that.

Up next: Well, lots of stuff happens actually. I technically could post the chapter now but what good is a cliff hanger if I turn around and immediately post the next chapter? *grins and ducks a flying pitch fork* I should have it posted late Tuesday/early Wednesday.

Oh, and Graven, I'mma tell Moody that you stole his magical eye! See what he does to you for that! *snicker*  
Just-one-of-many-readers - I understood your review just fine. Thank you very much for it! =)


	80. Evil Rebirthed

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter or any of the other character's! =/

* * *

Chapter 80

* * *

When they landed, it was badly. The cup got tossed and Cedric ended up on Harry's broken leg - no doubt breaking it even further.

As Cedric disentangled himself from Harry, he looked at him curiously. "Did anyone tell _you_ the cup was a port key?"

"No," he groaned as he tried to stand up, putting all his weight on his good leg. "Maybe the cup is still a port key. We should get back to it."

"Let's look around first," suggested Cedric.

Harry grimaced but pulled out his wand. It was then he realized that his scar was hurting. "Cedric, we need to get back to the cup," he said with more urgency. "Something's not right."

"Where are we?" He was obviously not listening.

Harry rubbed his scar as he truly looked around for the first time. There was a huge cauldron in the middle of a graveyard.

"A graveyard," he whispered. Then he caught sight of a grave that made his blood run cold.

Tom Riddle

"Cedric, we need to get out of here. Now!" screamed Harry. "Go back to the cup!"

A noise made both of them turn around. Someone was coming.

As the figure drew near, Harry's scar exploded with pain. He dropped to the ground clutching at it.

"Kill the spare!" came an evil hiss.

Harry felt the air around him change and screamed "NO!" the same time he heard "_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" He managed to look up long enough to pull Cedric out of the line of fire, but a second one was shot before Harry could do anything and unfortunately, it hit it's mark.

Harry watched as Cedric fell to the ground lifelessly, his eyes open in shock. He then turned his head the other direction and vomited from all of the dark magic swirling in the air. It was so thick that he was having trouble catching his breath.

He blacked out after that.

When Harry came to, the first thing he saw was Cedric's dead body lying on the ground. He then focused on the person tying him to the gravestone.

"Pettigrew!"

Harry managed to swat the man's cloak off of his head.

"Tie him up tight," came the voice. "I don't want him escaping."

"Why are you doing this?" Harry asked through the pain in his leg and scar.

"Because my master will win."

"Not in the state he's in he won't," said Harry. He could see a bundle of robes with something in it laying near the cauldron.

"You used to be best friends with my dad and mom. What made you give that up? Voldemort is your master, _not_ your friend." Harry hissed as Wormtail tied his bad leg to the grave. "I've heard stories how you used to baby sit me and how I called you my Uncle Wormy. I was told that you always brought me candy and that you would read to me. Sirius escaped from Azkaban to commit the murder he was accused of but I stopped him because I knew my dad wouldn't want you dead."

"Wormtail, gag him," came another hiss.

"I stopped him from killing you and you owe me. Let me go. Let me take ..." Harry choked up. "Let me take Cedric's body back to his parents, back to his friends."

"Gag him! Now!"

Harry saw something flicker in Wormtails eyes.

"I'll protect you from Azkaban. I'll help you hide if you want me too. Voldemort can't get his body back without your help. If you leave him like he is, he'll get weak and die ... again."

"Nagini," hissed Voldemort.

Harry saw a snake come out of a building in the distance. It was huge.

"Uncle Wormy, let me go. Let Voldemort die again. No one will ever have to know about this. They all think that I'm still in the maze."

Harry saw Peter hesitate as he finished tying him up.

"I forgive you for my parents death, Peter. I can't blame you for something that happened so long ago when I don't know all the circumstances surrounding you at that time. Let me go and we can start again, us getting to know each other. I don't have any parents and I'll shield you from Sirius and Remus if I have too. You were all good friends once. I don't see why you couldn't be again. Just let me go."

Harry saw Peter reach for the binding on his wrist then freeze when he caught sight of Nagini. "No. My master will rise again and take what is rightfully his."

Harry was then gagged.

He watched as Pettigrew walked away from him and levitated the cup onto Cedric's dead body.

Cedric then vanished across the lands.

"I returned the boy's body to his parents for a burial. When you die tonight, at least you'll die knowing that one of your requests was made," stuttered out Pettigrew.

Harry closed his eyes in defeat. Now he had no way out of here should he get free. As Peter pointed out, at least he now knew that Cedric would get a proper burial. He figured that after tonight there wouldn't be anything left of himself to bury.

* * *

The Headmaster had made most of the students go back to their dorms when the cup had transported the boy's away from the castle.

Harry and Cedric's friends, however, would not budge.

In the stands, everyone was beside themselves. When the killing curse had hit Diggory, his sphere had gone out. Albus and several others had already been trying to locate them but that made everyone stop and give pause.

They all watched as Harry tried to talk his way out of the situation. Everyone had literally froze when Harry said that he forgave Peter. Beside of him, Albus felt Severus stiffen.

Fudge then sauntered over to where the group was standing around a conjured table with maps on it as they tried to locate where Harry was. He was saying that it had to be a trick but every single professor that had taught Pettigrew said that it was indeed him.

Severus, himself, was frantically casting every spell he could to locate Harry but they all fizzled out.

The angle on the sphere was not very good and it couldn't be rotated which hampered looking around at the surrounding area to see if something was familiar to anyone.

He then remembered the necklace.

"Albus, you added the port key spell to his necklace didn't you?"

"I tried it already Severus. It didn't work. There must be some kind of anti-port key barrier up."

Just then, Diggory appeared before them all. Everyone rushed to him.

"He is indeed dead," said Albus as he closed the boys eyes. Cedric's father had ran to his son's now dead body. He had screamed out in pain when Cedric's sphere had winked out. The boy's friends weren't doing much better.

"Albus, this port key was used right beside of Potter," hissed Severus quietly.

"It must be tuned to the property." Albus then grabbed a hold of it but sighed. "It's no longer working."

A mad sounding laugh then came across the grounds.

Alastor Moody.

He had still been evading the Headmaster and Albus hadn't even been able to locate him during the day.

"Hmm. I wasn't counting on my Lord to have an audience to his re-birthing ceremony. We'll just have to fix that."

Moody then shot a spell at the sphere with Harry's image on it causing it to shatter.

Before anyone could react, he used a port key of his own and vanished.

"What in Merlin's name is going on here?" demanded Fudge.

Albus' eyes widened. "Vector, Sinastra - check Moody's quarters, especially his trunk."

The two teachers ran off.

"That was not Alastor Moody. I've had my suspicions for a while but no proof," said Albus to Fudge.

Albus then resumed his searching spells, dismissing the minister from his notice. Harry was more important that Fudge was.

* * *

Harry felt like he was in a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from.

Voldemort had just appeared out of a cauldron and was currently putting on his robes.

His scar was searing in pain but for the moment he blocked it away.

"My wand, Wormtail."

Harry watched as Pettigrew handed Voldemort his wand. He could see that it had a bone handle.

"Now give me your arm Wormtail," he hissed.

Wormtail offered up the arm that was bleeding profusely where he had cut off his own hand.

"The other arm Wormtail." Voldemort then jerked Wormtail's left arm towards him and raised the sleeve up that had been covering the Dark Mark.

"My follower's will have noticed it growing darker all year. Who will answer the call I wonder?"

He then touched his wand to Wormtail's Dark Mark.

Harry felt a searing pain go through his scar, which caused him to make a noise. Up until that point, he had been trying to stifle the agony he was going through.

His noise had caused Voldemort to remember that he was there.

* * *

Severus grabbed Albus' arm. "I'm being summoned," he whispered as he glanced down towards his left arm with horror on his face.

"No. You will _not_ answer it," Albus said with fire in his eyes.

"Albus, Harry could still be alive. I can retrieve him."

"No Severus. Not yet." He then turned to look at Gabriella in the stands and walked over to her. "Miss Nott, Mr. Potter gave you a bracelet for Valentine's Day didn't he?"

She nodded. "It's still warm against my arm. He's still alive." She was trying to hold back her tears now. Ron and Hermione both had their arms around her. Neville had a hand placed on her shoulder.

"I need to borrow it. It may help me find him."

Gabriella unfastened it and handed it over.

Albus then started casting a variety of spells on it as he hovered it over a map.

* * *

"You see, Harry Potter, I couldn't touch you before because of the protection that coursed through your veins which was given to you by your mother when she died. But with your blood, I can touch ... you ... now."

Harry refused to scream when Voldemort touched a finger to his scar, but he really wanted to. He had never felt anything so painful before in his life.

The sound of people apparating in made Voldemort turn around.

After about 10 minutes, it appeared that they were all there.

"All that is left of my ranks," he said. "I will have to replenish them."

Harry thought there were at least 40 people there.

They all hit their knees when they saw Voldemort.

"My followers. It's been 13 years. Thirteen years since I have called you together and you still answer like it was yesterday."

He circled around each kneeling person. They appeared to be in a semi-circle formation. Harry counted 3 rows from where he was tied to the grave stone.

Voldemort would occasionally stop and berate someone, sometimes cursing them.

Harry however, could see his wand. When he had dropped to the ground earlier and threw up, he had dropped it too.

He was doing his best to do a wandless summoning spell without drawing attention to himself. But it wasn't working.

He focused through the pain in his scar, arm, and leg and whispered, "_Accio Harry Potter's Wand_."

It moved, but just an inch.

Harry tried again but it didn't move any more.

A new arrival made him look up though.

It was Moody. He thought for sure he was saved. Surely the others were right behind him.

"Well, well. I wondered if you would arrive," said Voldemort.

To Harry's horror, Moody put on a robe and mask and joined the inner most circle. Harry wasn't the only one surprised. Most of the Death Eaters had stood and drawn wands the second he had appeared.

"Did I give you permission to rise?" snarled Voldemort. He cursed a couple of them that had stood.

While Voldemort moved to the middle circle to "sniff out guilt", Harry watched Moody with betrayal in his eyes.

He then saw something strange happen. Moody started fidgeting slightly and a glow started to appear at his feet. He was showing a magical signature! Harry's eyes widened in surprise. He had seen it before. If he remembered correctly, it had belonged to an invisible person that had been tied to Winky at the World Cup match.

"Crabbe and Goyle, I expect better from you in the future."

Voldemort then went and stood in the middle of the inner circle.

"And you, my most trusted, my most faithful. You have let me lie for 13 years."

"My Lord, there was no sign or word of you. If there had been, I would have looked for you myself," came a voice that Harry recognized immediately.

It was Lucius Malfoy.

"There were signs, otherwise Wormtail, of all people, could not have found me. You chose not to look for me," he snarled. "But you will each be given another chance to prove yourselves once again."

Harry watched as Voldemort named a couple of people to berate them.

"And you, Nott."

Harry's head snapped up.

"I hear you've never given up your taste of the Dark Arts."

"No, my Lord."

"Another rumor has also reached my ears. A curious rumor at that. You daughter is the girlfriend of our guest of honor tonight. Is that true?"

With everyone having permission now, they all stared at Harry. In defiance, he glared back.

"The rumor is indeed true, my Lord. I thought the information she could garner from him could be useful when you returned. However, I see that after tonight, it won't matter."

Voldemort gave a hiss of a chuckle. "I may still desire to talk with her."

"As you wish, my Lord."

Harry felt a spike of fear go through him for Gabriella. He couldn't let Voldemort get his hands on her.

* * *

"Albus, you have to let me go," demanded Severus.

"No."

"He's still alive. I can feel it. I will be able to find some way to get him out of there alive."

"And you'll get yourself killed in the process."

"Then my life will be forfeit."

Albus touched Severus' arm. "No Severus. Give me 15 more minutes. If I haven't come up with something by then, you may answer the summons."

Severus stared into Albus eyes', and using an open form of legilimency, said into the Headmaster's mind, "If my son dies because you would not allow me to answer the summons, not only will his blood be on your hands but I will _never_ forgive you."

Severus then stormed away from Albus.

* * *

"Untie him Wormtail and give him his wand."

Harry was untied where he immediately fell to the ground.

Any chance of running fled him as he realized his broken leg was completely numb.

As Harry stood up, again putting all his weight on his good leg, he pulled his wand up into a casting position. He would not show his fear.

"_Crucio_!"

Harry collapsed back to the ground. Every nerve in his body was on fire. It stopped after a minute, which felt like a year.

He managed to roll away from the second one but the third one hit him again.

The followers all laughed as Harry laid on the ground twitching, but he refused to scream - which caused him to nearly black out again.

Voldemort flicked his wand and Harry was suddenly standing again.

"Bow to me, Harry Potter. The boy who was prophesied to be my downfall," Voldemort said in mocking tones. "Bow to me and show everyone who your master is. _Imperio_!"

Harry felt the curse hit him and a voice inside of his head saying bow. He fought it. He didn't have much strength left but he used it to fight the curse.

He suddenly fell to his good knee. "No! I will NOT bow to you," he shouted. He felt the curse leave his body.

All of the Death Eater's stopped laughing then. He had fought off the Dark Lord's imperious curse. It was something un-heard of.

"Does that mean you are ready to die, Harry?"

Harry looked into Voldemort's red eyes. "No, Tom, I'm not." Then using his natural born Quidditch reflexes, he ducked behind a random tombstone.

"Form a circle around us but no one is to touch him. He's mine."

Harry peered around the grave marker and saw the Death Eaters surround him.

"Now, now Harry. Do you want everyone here to remember you as a _coward_?"

The word coward struck a nerve.

Harry was going to die. He had accepted that fact while he had been tied to the gravestone, but he would not go down without a fight.

"I am _not_ a coward," snarled Harry. Using the head of the grave stone, he stood up and limped out from behind it. He could no longer feel the pain in his leg, arm (where Wormtail had taken his blood), nor scar.

They were all still hurting but he figured that it was the least of his problems at the moment so he shoved it to the back of his mind.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

"_Expelliarmus!"_

* * *

Albus, we found Alastor unconscious in his trunk," Sinastra said as she came running up to where the Headmaster was casting spell after spell.

"What?" demanded Fudge.

"Poppy has him. Evidently he's been there for months."

"They needed him alive for the Polyjuice potion," said Albus with dawning understanding. "Did he say who impersonated him?"

"He's pretty bad off."

"We need to question him," said Fudge.

"Any luck finding Potter?"

"No. He said he was in a graveyard before the imposter blew the sphere up. I think the area is under a variation of the Fidelius Charm. I feel like I should know where he's at but it's like a fog in my mind."

"Can you erect another sphere?"

"I've tried twice. The image comes up blank. I even summoned Fawkes down here to try to see if he could sense Harry but he couldn't."

"Surely you don't think You-Know-Who is behind this? He's dead!" exclaimed Fudge.

Albus tuned out the Minister's ranting again and tried to focus. He had tried every location spell he knew on the map's but they all fizzled out. He had tried using a drop of Severus' blood to scry for Harry but the crystal had remained motionless over the map. Severus, he could see, was getting antsy. He was afraid to let Severus answer the summon's. If Voldemort had indeed risen, he might kill Severus on sight, which would negate any attempt at getting Harry out of there alive. He wouldn't be able to handle it if he lost one of them, let alone both.

He picked up the bracelet that Ms. Nott had been wearing and felt it. It was still warm, so Harry was alive. How much longer would his luck hold out?

The Headmaster sighed. If the area was indeed under a variation of the Fidelius charm, then no spell would be able to locate him. It was looking more and more like he wouldn't have any choice but to let Severus answer the summons.

"Albus, I have an idea that can help us locate Harry but I need to explain it to you alone," said Remus as he came sprinting up to where he was standing. Behind Remus, Albus could see a giant dog near the edge of the bleachers.

'Of course,' thought Albus. 'The Godfather bond. It's more matured than the bond Severus has with Harry because Harry is unaware of the truth yet.' He quickly made his way to the waiting dog.

* * *

The golden cage had formed around Voldemort and Harry after he had shoved the ball of light into Voldemort's wand.

For the first time in his life, he had truly put his full power behind a spell - and to be honest, it scared him.

The cage erupted into a song then. A song that made Harry think of Fawkes and by association, Dumbledore. It renewed his strength and he held on even tighter to his wand.

As soon as the cage sat them back down on the ground, he saw a ghostly shape of Cedric come out of Voldemort's wand. He nearly let go of his wand in shock.

"Hold on Harry, more are coming," said the ghostly figure.

Around the light, Harry saw fear in Voldemort's eyes.

"He's mine! Don't interfere!" shouted Voldemort to his followers.

Outside, the Death Eaters were scrambling around trying to re-circle the moved golden cage.

"Hang on Harry, your dad is coming," said his mother. Harry couldn't take his eyes off of her. He had thought of her a lot tonight - more than anyone else.

"You're doing great Harry," said his dad. "We can only linger a moment after you break the connection."

"You must get to the area beyond those trees," said the old man that Harry had seen Voldemort kill earlier that year.

"Push through the pain," said the figure of the ghostly woman.

"Tell my parents that I love them," said the ghost of Cedric.

"I don't know how to get away even if I do manage to reach the area," said Harry. His grip was loosening on his wand.

"Your necklace is a port key. The Headmaster activated it when he saw you go missing. When you get beyond those trees, it will activate on your end and take you to safety," said his mother.

She then flew over and whispered something in his ear.

"We'll only linger a moment. You need to run as fast and as hard as you can son. I love you," said his dad.

"I love you too," added his mother. "We're both very proud of you."

"When you're ready Harry, break the connection," said Cedric.

* * *

"Albus, it's been 20 minutes. I'm answering the summons."

Before Albus could say anything to stop him, there was a whirling vertex noise and a popping sound.

Everyone turned around in time to see a badly injured and bleeding profusely Harry Potter get tossed onto the ground.

And he wasn't moving.

* * *

A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. I'm glad you all liked my viewer idea. =) *set's out ice cream for everyone in hopes of bribing more reviews*

A/N: Hmm, well, would you look at that! It's another cliff-hanger. *pushes my own Death Eater mask and robe out of the way and grins innocently*

So, as for Harry's chat with Pettigrew, in my mind, that was his self-preservation Slytherin side coming out. As for whether or not he has really forgiven Peter remains to be seen. I suppose I could add it in a later chapter, assuming Harry is alive of course. *points to cliff hanger for reference* As for Dumbles, poor guy really needs to screen his DADA teacher's.

Anyway, I hope you all liked my take on the graveyard. You should see my notes on it around me. There is a lot of them and I have them all over the place. LOL As for James coming out of the wand and calling Harry his son, that's because Harry is his son. I know it was like a zillion chapter's back, but James knew that Harry was not his biologically because he found the book in which Lily had researched the potion (she had notes written all over the book). It's in chapter 58 if anyone needs a refresher. =)

Regarding Cedric's death. I toyed with the idea for a long time of letting him live. I even have a stack of notes with a different scenario where Harry pushed Cedric out of the way of the curse and back onto the cup, thus saving Cedric and causing himself to not have a way out - which let the scene play out normally. However, future writing caused me to need him to die. Sorry those that wanted me to save him! I really did try!

Up next, the night that never ended. ;-) I'll be nice and aim for a Thursday/Friday posting, instead of Saturday - which is what I was originally going to do. I have a major scene to carefully comb through before I can post it. *grabs robes and mask and flee's*


	81. The Never Ending Night

Disclaimer: Sadly, I still do not own Harry Potter, or any of the other characters. *pout*

*Sneaks in and leaves this and hopes no one notices that it's a day late and flee's*

* * *

Chapter 81

* * *

Everyone ran to where he appeared on the ground.

Albus, Severus, and an auror all reached him at the same time.

"Stand back," yelled Albus.

Everyone but Severus moved away.

Albus felt for a pulse. "He's alive."

Everyone let out a collective breath of relief.

Albus then looked up at Harry's friends. "Run and tell Madam Pomphrey that I'm bringing Harry to her and that we will need the private room."

He watched as they took off.

"Severus, come with me." Albus said needlessly as he levitated Harry and headed toward the infirmary.

"Dear Merlin," exclaimed Poppy as soon as she saw Harry.

They took him to the private room in the back of the hospital wing. Minerva stood guard at the door after she closed it, not letting anyone other than Poppy, Severus, and Albus inside.

Poppy quickly removed his clothes. "It looks like he's been hit by many slicing hexes and I count at least two burns!"

"His necklace should have prevented some of the spells from actually harming him," said Albus.

Harry started stirring.

"How is he waking up?" asked Severus as he handed Poppy a potion.

"Back up," said Albus.

"What?"

"Back up," he said again.

Severus and Poppy both backed up.

Harry heard noises. His body was killing him. He hurt in places that he didn't even know was possible. Then he remembered _everything_ that had taken place and he stiffened.

Did he collapse before he made it to the border?

"Harry."

Harry tried to keep his breathing even which was hard to do given how much pain he was in.

"Wake up Harry. You're safe. You're back at Hogwarts."

'Was it a trick?' he wondered.

"Open your eyes Harry," said the voice cautiously.

He heard a noise then a soft crooning song.

Fawkes.

He opened his eyes as soon as he realized what the song meant and took in his surroundings. Everything was blurry.

"Harry, are you with us?"

"Headmaster," choked out Harry. Then he started coughing up blood.

Albus nodded to Poppy and Severus.

"Harry, if you want, I can put you to sleep so we can work on your injuries."

Harry shook his head no. "Need to explain. Voldemort's back. Cedric's dead."

"We know Harry. When you went into the maze, we watched the champions on a sphere like object. Sadly, there was an imposter posing as Alastor Moody and when he broke the viewer, we couldn't get it back."

"Barty Crouch ... Jr." he managed to choke out around another mouth full of blood.

"What?" asked Severus. "Barty Crouch Jr. died in Azkaban years ago."

Harry realized that Snape was standing there for the first time and saw something strange around him. He squinted to try to clear his vision but gave up. He would just have to deal with the blurry vision for now.

"You ... you have the Dark Mark," he said with sudden alarm. Had Sirius been right about him all along? His first reaction was to recoil back into the bed, away from Snape, which was natural given what he had just been through but after a couple of seconds, he relaxed. After all, Snape had actually saved him at various times. He had no reason not to trust him now, especially with Dumbledore in the room.

Severus' hand automatically went to his left forearm.

Harry hissed as Madam Pomphrey poured something on one of the cuts across his chest before turning to fetch something else.

"Drink this. It should ease some of the pain and help you quit coughing the blood up," said the medi-witch as she handed over 3 vials of potions.

"How do you know he has the Dark Mark?" asked Albus.

After Harry downed the potions, he looked Snape over (squinting again), then back to the Headmaster. "He knows that I can see magical signatures?" he accused.

Albus nodded. "I trust him Harry. He's the only one I've told, the only one I plan on telling."

Harry just looked defeated. "It's just something that I can tell."

Albus walked closer to the bed. "Could you tell before today?"

Harry coughed. "No." He then hissed again as Madam Pomphrey done something to his shoulder.

"You can trust Severus, Harry, but if you want him to leave, I can ask him to step out."

Harry shook his head. "One of the things my mom said to me was to trust him."

Severus' head snapped up. "Lily?"

Harry nodded.

"Mr. Potter, I'm going to have to set your leg before I can give you a dose of Skelegrow. It's going to hurt."

Harry nodded and braced for the pain.

Everyone expected him to scream, but he didn't. He thought he saw something like admiration in Snape's eyes but without his glasses, it was really hard to tell.

Madam Pomphrey then put a splint on his leg.

Harry heard the Headmaster sigh so he looked up at him.

"Harry, you have shown so much courage tonight. More courage than grown men twice your age. You've already lived through it once, but I need you to tell me what happened tonight from the time you touched the cup until you woke up here."

Harry nodded as he downed a blood replenisher handed to him by Snape.

"Professor, you can't let Gabriella leave. After we're done, I _need_ to talk to her."

"Severus, can you bring me some clean rags?" asked Poppy.

He nodded.

When he opened the door, he was ambushed.

"Poppy is working on him," he snarled. Severus grabbed the rags and a few other potions from the cupboard. "Minerva, send these buffoons away. (The minister spluttered in outrage.) However, the Headmaster wants to see Miss Nott, Mr. Weasley, Miss. Granger, and Mr. Longbottom tonight after he's done with Potter."

Severus then re-entered the room.

Potter was two shades paler than he should have been.

"He killed Cedric because he was there. It was my fault. I told him to take the cup with me."

"Harry no one could have known this would happen. _None_ of this is your fault."

Harry then turned to look at Madam Pomphrey. "I was caught in the wake of two killing curses again, plus the one that was cast at me when Voldemort and I dueled. Why didn't I pass out for a day like I did last time."

"I'm unsure Mr. Potter. It could be that your body adapted to being in the wake where you were exposed before or simply that your willpower kept you up."

Harry shook his head to clear it. "I tried to talk my way out of Peter's clutches -"

Suddenly the door barged open. "I'm sorry Albus," everyone heard McGonagall say.

"I need to see him with my own eyes," said Remus.

"Harry?"

Harry nodded. "Just not my friends or Gabby yet. Not while I look like this."

Minerva nodded and moved aside while Remus and a dog came into the room.

As the door was shut, everyone heard the Minister exclaim, "I am more important than that dog!"

The Headmaster then shot a spell at the door. "It won't be opened again unless I open it. No one outside can hear us either."

Sirius then resumed his normal form.

"Harry, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Sirius."

Poppy and Severus both snorted. Potter was _clearly_ not fine.

"Why is Snape here?" demanded Sirius.

"He needs to be here Sirius," said Harry before anyone else could say anything.

"Harry, I wrote to you and told you that you couldn't trust him," he whispered.

Harry looked at his godfather. "You also told me to trust my instincts. Please Sirius. I'm tired, dizzy, sore, weak, and in pain. I don't have any strength left to argue."

Sirius looked shocked, but nodded.

Harry began telling the story as Snape applied some type of salve to one of his arms (which caused Sirius to glare ferociously) while Madam Pomphrey fished around for another potion for him to take. "I tried to talk my way out of Peter's clutches. It was working too. If he wouldn't have seen Nagini, I believe he would have let me go."

"Who's Nagini?" interrupted Sirius.

"Voldemort's pet snake," said Harry. "Wormtail then used a ritual to give Voldemort his body back." Harry closed his eyes to remember. "Bone from his father unknowingly given. Flesh from the servant willingly given. Wormtail cut off his own hand for that. And Blood from the enemy, forcibly taken. The cut on my arm came from him.

"Voldemort then rose out of the cauldron. He told me that he wanted my blood because it allowed him to touch me. He can. He touched my scar. It hurt me but not him."

Albus frowned. "Very well. It seems that Tom found his way around that obstacle. What happened after that?"

"He called his followers to him. There were 3 rings, about 40 Death Eaters. He started on the outside and worked his way in. He tortured some and just talked to the others.

"There were 40 Death Eater's that managed to avoid Azkaban?" asked Sirius, shocked.

"It's amazing what money can buy you," sneered Snape as he cast another spell at Harry to see if his blood level's was coming back to normal yet.

"Voldemort eventually came to Gabriella's father. He already knew that I am dating his daughter. Mr. Nott explained how he thought she might get some useful information out of me. Voldemort said that he might want to meet her. I'm sure he will now since I managed to get away."

"How did you get away Harry?" asked Sirius while he glared at Snape some more.

"Hold on," Harry winced as a sharp pain shot through his leg. "Professor Snape. Barty Crouch Jr. was unable to tell which side you are truly on. Voldemort said that one of his most loyal inner circle members would be questioned closely if they showed themself. He didn't mention your name, but now that I know you're Marked, I'm pretty sure he was talking about you."

"Crouch Jr.?" exclaimed Remus.

"He was posing as Moody all year long. Voldemort talks too much. He explained how another one of his most faithful servants had managed to subdue Moody in order to impersonate him. He was proud of the fact that he had been able to fool Dumbledore for so long."

Albus scowled. When the real Alastor woke up, he was going to get an ear full from the paranoid man.

"How did he escape Azkaban?" wondered Sirius out loud.

"His father. It was a request by his mother. If you talk to Winky, I'm sure she'll tell you. It was him that killed Mr. Crouch between me and Krum. I have no idea where the body is though.

"Headmaster Karkaroff is branded an outright traitor. Voldemort said that he'd be hunted and killed." Harry frowned deeper at that.

"He fled when he felt the Dark Mark burn," sneered Snape.

"He's also going to break open Azkaban. He mentioned something about the Lestranges rejoining his ranks."

"Wow, he really does talk a lot."

"To Voldemort's credit, I wasn't supposed to live," said Harry as he grimaced. His left arm was still twitching.

He took a deep breath. He was tired now but suspected Fawkes song was giving him the strength he needed to get through this.

"After he made his rounds, I was given my wand back. He wanted to duel." Harry then glared at the Headmaster. "Evidently I am prophesied to be his downfall so he wanted to prove who was stronger."

Albus sighed. "We'll talk about it when you're better."

"Before the summer sir."

"Very well."

Harry nodded. "I was hit with 2 Cruciatus curses. It would have been 3 but I managed to avoid one." Harry then snorted. "I suppose I owe Barty Jr. a thank you. Had he not put the imperious on me in class and gave me pointers on how to fight it, I might not have been able to fight off the one Voldemort put on me."

"You were under the cruciatus?" huffed Madam Pomphrey.

"You successfully fought off an Imperious cast by the Dark Lord?" asked Snape at the same time.

"You should have told me," said Madam Pomphrey. "I have something for that."

Harry watched as Madam Pomphrey summoned a vial of dark blue liquid. Harry drank it and started feeling much better immediately.

"I was resigned to the fact that I was going to die out there," he continued with his gaze distant, as if he was remembering. "Even if I somehow managed to get in a lucky shot, I'd still have the 40 or so Death Eaters to get through, but I was not going out like a coward.

"So I shot the only spell at him that made sense. While he shot the killing curse at me, I tried to disarm him." Harry then caught the Headmaster's gaze. "Our wands did something, sir. They kind of connected. It formed a golden cage."

"_Priori Incatatem_. You really did see your mother tonight."

"And my dad."

"Harry, those were just echoes. They were not real. There is no way to bring back the dead."

Harry looked away and nodded.

After re-composing himself, he resumed speaking. "There were 5 people that came from the wand. Cedric, an old man I saw Voldemort kill this summer, a woman, my mom, and my dad. They each gave me advice. My mom was the one that told me my necklace was a port key." Harry looked at Professor Snape. "She then whispered in my ear to trust you and to show you patience when you tell me whatever it is she left for you to tell me."

Harry furrowed his brow at Snape. He thought the man got paler but without his glasses on it was hard to tell.

"What could _you_ possibly have to tell him?" demanded Sirius.

"After you are well again, Potter," Snape said, completely ignoring Sirius.

Harry nodded. "The ... echoes ... managed to distract Voldemort for a few seconds while I ran after I broke the connection. I'm not entirely sure how I escaped. I remember pushing through some people and casting spells over my shoulder. I don't even know how I ran on my broken leg. I just knew that I had to get to the area beyond the trees."

Harry grimaced. "I was hit by several curses. I couldn't dodge them all as I ran. The last thing I remember is Voldemort being so angry that it threw me into his head for half a second. I think I fell which brought me back to my own body. I believe the port key activated then."

"What do you mean it threw you into his head?" asked Snape.

"It's complicated, sir, and I'm not entirely sure I can explain it."

"Do you remember any of the curses thrown at you?"

"No ma'am."

"You're going to be here for a while until I know for sure that I've countered all of them."

Harry groaned.

The Headmaster then walked over to the bed. "I'll say this again Harry. You have shown remarkable courage tonight. I am very, very proud of you. Get some rest. Madam Pomphrey has some dreamless sleep draught. I want you to take it tonight."

"I need to talk to my friends first."

"Very well. Sirius, you need to change back. I need to go calm the minister down and inform him of what all has taken place."

Sirius hugged Harry and then changed back into Padfoot.

"Professor Snape?"

Snape turned towards Harry. "If you go back to him, be careful. He's still angry." Harry rubbed his scar.

Snape nodded and swooped out of the room behind the Headmaster.

Harry looked up to see his friends enter the room.

The Headmaster poked his head back in before he shut the door. "Mr. Potter just had to relive the experience for me. Please don't ask him any unnecessary questions. He needs his rest but I'll give you all a few minutes."

Harry was grateful for that.

He then turned to look at his friends. "Voldemort is back."

All four gasped in horror.

"He summoned his Death Eaters." He caught Gabriella's eyes.

"My father was there," she said flatly.

Harry nodded. "Gabby, listen to me. Before I managed to escape, Voldemort was curious about what all you had learned about me. Now that I managed to get away, he might have your dad bring you to him."

He took her hand. "If that happens, tell him anything he wants to know. Don't lie."

"Oh Harry!" she then reached down to hug him.

Harry caught the eyes of each of his friends. He was tired and it more than likely showed.

Padfoot whined and put a paw near the vial of dreamless sleep.

"Who's dog is that" asked Neville.

"Professor Lupin's. His name is Padfoot."

"Harry, you should take that potion. Anything else can wait until tomorrow," said Hermione quietly.

Harry nodded. He kissed Gabriella's forehead then downed the potion in one gulp.

* * *

"Minster, Harry has taken a dreamless sleep draught. I'm sorry to have made you wait. If you will head up to my office, I will tell you everything."

"But _I_ must question the boy!"

"Not tonight. He needs his rest. He was near death when he appeared. Let's go."

"Headmaster, I need you to sign something before you go," called out Madam Pomphrey from her office.

"I'll be right there, Poppy. Cornelius, head on up to my office. I'll be there shortly."

"Very well," he said in agitated tones.

The Headmaster stepped into her office to find Severus waiting on him. Poppy went into the storage area to give the two privacy. He cast a quick spell to where no one outside could hear them speak.

"I'm not going to be able to stop you from answering the summons am I?"

"No. You need someone on the inside."

"Severus, he might kill you on sight. I don't want to take that chance. I need you and I'm not the only one."

Severus turned away. "Harry is strong. He's remarkably strong. I don't know what I'm going to do about him but I ... can't tell him the truth. Not now. It would be like a knife in the heart giving a final twist before death after what he just went through. I shouldn't have waited."

Albus touched Severus' shoulder. "You have paid your debt 10 fold since you first came to me. There is no need to go back to him. You have a family now. I'll find a way to block the pain in your arm from the summons."

Severus rubbed his temples. "No. We need to stay ahead of him. He needs to be destroyed for good. Anything I gather from the inside could help with that."

"I really wish you would reconsider, if not for your sake or mine, then for your son's."

Severus turned around. "I need to prepare to leave."

Albus nodded. "Then good luck, _my_ son."

Severus looked into Albus' eyes briefly then swept out of the room in a flurry of robes.

When Albus looked up, Poppy was looking at him in disbelief. "None of that leaves this room. Harry does not know."

She merely nodded, too shocked for words.

Albus then headed up to his office to inform Cornelius of the events that had transpired.

* * *

Madam Pomphrey took some potions to put at Potter's bedside. When she entered the room, she couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of her.

Remus was sitting in a chair. Sirius, in dog form, was lying on the bed at Harry's feet. (She had been told of his innocence last year.)

Hermione was sitting in a chair holding Harry's hand. Gabriella was sitting on the bed with Harry. She had his head in her lap and was stroking his hair. Ron and Neville were sitting in chairs at the foot of his bed.

Harry was still very pale and his face showed that he was still in pain, but not as severely as he had been. She searched for any sign of Severus in the boy, but all she could see was James. It was hard to understand why he and Albus thought the boy belonged to him but neither had a reason to lie, especially since they thought they had been alone in her office.

She would need to question Albus later, though Severus attempting to examine Harry's medical file made more sense. He was worried about him.

"You all can't stay in here the entire night."

"I'll watch them Poppy. I doubt you could force them away."

"Very well," she sighed. "I'll need to work on his wounds in a couple of hours. I'm warning you now so that no one gets upset when I wake you all to move."

They all nodded that they understood.

After she left, Hermione sighed. "He's going to push us all away after this."

"What do you mean?" asked Ron.

"He's going to think that in order to protect us, he'll need to be alone, that we'll be better off without him."

Remus nodded. "She's right. You all are going to have to show him that he needs you as much as you need him."

Gabriella sighed as she carefully repositioned herself on the bed. "He's going to break up with me to protect me isn't he?"

Neville nodded. "Probably."

"What should I do? I don't want him to."

"Then tell him that," said Neville softly.

"It won't be easy. My dad is a Death Eater. I told Harry that at the Yule Ball."

Hermione looked Gabriella over. "If he knew before hand that your father was a Death Eater and you've still dated, then chances are he doesn't care. This will, however, have to be something you work out between the two of you. I do know that Harry cares for you very much."

Padfoot raised his head and nodded.

Gabby smiled. "Is he your familiar, Professor Lupin?"

Remus chuckled. "No. He's more like a pain in the butt. I've had him for a while though so he can understand us like a familiar can."

Everyone chuckled as the dog glared, especially Ron and Hermione, who knew who the dog really was.

* * *

Severus looked around the graveyard where he had apparated into. It was where his summons had taken him. The cauldron was still present. There was also fresh blood on the ground.

He then realized that he was no longer alone. He stalked to the gravestone that still had ropes on it.

"Must have been where Potter was tied," he said out loud. "Oh, how I would have _loved_ to have seen it in person."

A hiss of a chuckle made Severus turn around with his wand raised. His eyes widened in surprise. He was expecting another Death Eater, not the Dark Lord himself.

"My Lord!" he said as he knelt to the ground.

"Severus. You missed the fun earlier. Remove your mask. It is just us here."

"I apologize my Lord. I was unable to answer the summons until now," replied Severus as he removed his Death Eater mask.

Voldemort circled Severus. "Potter still lives I take it?"

"He does indeed. He told the Headmaster everything that happened."

Voldemort sent a curse to a tombstone in anger. It exploded as a result. "I was hoping to keep my presence a secret for now. Tell me, why have you returned? You had to know that I would have most likely killed you on sight for not showing up earlier."

"Dumbledore sent me."

Voldemort conjured two chairs. "Did he now? You may rise and take a seat."

Severus rose and sat in the chair. He then saw Voldemort's arm. "My Lord. You're hurt. Let me tend to you."

Voldemort looked at the burn on his arm. The Death Eater that had mis-aimed was now dead. "It's fine. Now. You've walked a thin line of neutrality. I have a vial of veritaserum on me. I need to question you. I'm sure you understand. I can't afford to have any traitors amongst my ranks."

"I do, my Lord."

Voldemort pulled out a vial of clear liquid and placed 3 drops on Severus' tongue.

After 15 minutes had past, the interrogation began.

* * *

Remus was nodding in his chair. The kids had fallen asleep about 30 minutes prior. Well, Gabriella looked to be half asleep.

A muffled popping noise made both of them look up.

A piece of paper was floating down from the ceiling.

Gabriella caught it before it hit Harry.

"What is that?" whispered Remus.

"It's a list of curses I think," she whispered as she handed the piece of paper to him.

Remus looked it over. "Merlin. I'll be right back."

Confused, she nodded.

Remus found Poppy tending to Alastor.

"Poppy, this just appeared in Harry's room."

Poppy took it and after one look at it, rushed off to her supply cabinet.

Remus followed her back into the private room.

"What's wrong? Do I need to move?" whispered Gabriella.

"Actually, I'll spell these into his stomach but I do have a task for you Miss Nott, if you don't mind."

"Anything Madam Pomphrey."

"He's going to get a fever. I have a thing to press to his forehead that will tell me his temperature. While you are awake, if you could check his temperature for me sometimes, I would appreciate it. If the reader ever says 'too high' come and get me."

"Alright."

"And Miss Nott, don't stay awake just to do this. I'll be up and down all night. If you fall asleep, it's alright."

"I don't mind. Makes me feel useful," she said smiling weakly.

Madam Pomphrey nodded and spelled the potions into his stomach. "He'll most likely start to feel warm in about an hour."

Remus followed her back out. "What was that list?" he asked once he shut the door.

"Sometimes the magic in the castle helps me when I've missed something during my diagnostic scans."

"Magic in the castle?"

"I don't question it. It's been useful over the years, especially when the upper years get into nonverbal spells and start cursing each other. I like to think of it as the castles way of watching over its students."

"Are you going to tell Albus about the spells on that paper?"

"He said he'd be down after the Minister left. I'll show him then."

"Poppy, did you catch the withering curse in time?"

"I believe so. There is a 4 hour window to catch it and get the potion in his system. If he spikes a fever then he'll be fine. He has to sweat the curse out."

Remus nodded. "I'll keep an eye on him if you need to get some rest."

"I won't sleep tonight. I'm sure Albus will be in to see him once Cornelius leaves."

Remus nodded and headed back to the private room.

* * *

"During Potter's 1st year, you mentioned that you knew someone that could use the sorcerer's stone. To whom were you referring?"

"The Dark Lord."

"Who did you think Quirrell was going after the stone for?"

"Himself."

Voldemort got up and circled Severus' chair.

"Why have you stayed at Hogwarts all these years?"

"Hogwarts is where the Dark Lord bid me to go and the Headmaster would not allow me to leave."

"Why wouldn't he let you leave?"

"He told me that he would keep me out of Azkaban if I agreed to keep teaching."

"Does Dumbledore trust you?"

"He trusts me."

Voldemort sat back down. "Did he ever tell you the full prophecy?"

"No."

"Does Potter know it?"

"To my knowledge, no. The Headmaster has told me that he wants to keep Potter's childhood innocence intact for as long as possible."

Voldemort added 3 more drops of veritaserum to Severus' tongue.

"Where do your true loyalties lie?"

* * *

"Cornelius, we all saw Pettigrew on the sphere!"

"Then we will hunt _him_ down for this fiasco. I will not disrupt 13 years of peace by claiming that You-Know-Who is back!"

"You won't have to, Voldemort will."

"No. These are peaceful times. They will stay that way. I won't be known as the Minister who let You-Know-Who rise again!"

"Cornelius, listen to me. Send envoys to the giants, replace the dementors with auror's in Azkaban, inform the public of safety precautions. If you do this to get a head of Voldemort, you will be remembered as a Minister of action."

"I will _not_ disrupt the peace and _neither_ will you."

Fudge then stormed out of the office.

Albus looked at the Auror guarding Fudge and gave her a nod. The evidence Madam Pomphrey had collected would be taken to Madam Bones. The nod indicated that the Auror would deliver it.

Albus glanced at the clock. 1:10 am. He sighed. Just as he started to head back down to the hospital room, his floo flared.

It was Madam Bones herself, the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Department. Seeing as how the auror had walked out of his office not more than a minute prior, he knew that it wasn't about what was being taken to her.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about not getting this up last night but right before I went to post it, I had an epiphany and had to fix something in this chapter. Plus, this was originally two chapter's. I realized they were too short to stand on their own, and since it was all happening in the same night, I decided to combine them.

Now, before anyone proceed's to beat me to death for Severus' little chat w/ Dumbles, let me ask you a question.

Do you really think Severus could have looked at Harry before leaving the room and say, "By the way Harry, what your mother wanted me to tell you was that you're really my son. However, we can't really do anything about this because I'm about to go back to Voldemort since we need a spy and I'm the best person to do so."

...

Okay, so that sounds really plausible coming from Severus, but well, he didn't. Can you just imagine what Sirius would have done if Snape would have said that. They were already glaring each other to death. *cackles gleefully while rubbing hands together*

*casts a shield around myself* Assuming Snape survives the night, I mean, Voldie had veritaserum after all, well, let's just say that it's not going to get any easier from here on out. Not easier in the slightest. Snape really shouldn't have waited!

Although, I do promise that Harry is going to be told the truth soonerisher (TM). ;-) I imagine if he's not, I'm gonna get lynched and offered up to Voldie as a torture subject for his Death Eater's.

Up next, we'll find out what Albus gave the auror's _and_ Fudge has a mental breakdown (which is always fun). Plus, we'll find out if Severus survived Voldy's interrogation. *slinks off before being caught* I should have it up by Tuesday. =)

Oh, and thank you all for the reviews you all have left me so far! They really do encourage me! In fact, they actually got me over a wall of writer's block that I ran head first into. *wander's off to edit the next chapter*


	82. The Next Morning

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters. =/

* * *

Chapter 82

* * *

Harry started waking up. He automatically reached for his glasses only to hit something soft. When he opened his eyes, he saw Gabriella rubbing her arm.

Yesterday came flooding back to him as well as a wave a nausea. He turned his head the other direction and threw up. He was doing that way too much lately.

Madam Pomphrey came in the room and waved her wand at the vomit to make it vanish.

"Sorry," he managed to croak out. His throat was sore. Had he been screaming?

"How are you feeling, Mr. Potter?"

Harry sat up in bed while Gabby moved to one of the empty chairs. "Like I've been run over by the Knight Bus."

"You're going to be in here for a few days, just so you know."

Harry nodded. "Does anyone have any extra glasses lying around? Merlin only knows where I lost mine at."

"I can perform the eye sight repairing charm on your eyes but it only lasts 24 hours. I'll see about getting you another set of glasses made. Do you know your eye prescription?"

Harry shook his head. "When my first grade teacher told the Dursley's I needed glasses, they took me to a Goodwill Store and let me pick a pair out of the bin."

"You've never seen an eye doctor?"

Harry shrugged. "No."

Madam Pomphrey muttered under her breath while she cast the charm on Harry's eyes.

"Woah."

"What is it?" asked Gabby.

"Is this how you all see all the time? Everything's so sharp ... and clear."

Gabriella laughed. "Well never have another shot at that Quidditch Cup again if you can see better now than you could before."

"Miss Nott, you'll need to step outside so I can examine Mr. Potter. Tell Professor Lupin that he's awake but not to come in just yet."

"Yes ma'am."

As soon as Gabriella left, Madam Pomphrey started scanning him. "Your leg will need to be in the brace for a couple more days. The bone is mended but we need to give the muscles and joints time to heal as well."

Harry nodded. "What time is it?"

"Five in the morning."

"Did you make everyone leave?"

"I tried around 2 am when I came in to check on you but they insisted on staying. They're in the beds out in the main part of the infirmary. Ms. Nott, Padfoot, and Remus stayed in here."

Harry was surprised she had let Gabriella stay in the room over night with him but realized that it probably wasn't such a big deal since they hadn't been left alone, plus she had probably slept in the chair.

"I need you to take a couple more potions while I work on the cut across your chest."

"Why hasn't it healed yet?" he asked curiously.

"Because it's not a normal cut."

Harry frowned but downed the potions anyway. "I feel dizzy," he said suddenly.

Madam Pomphrey looked at Harry as his eyes rolled back into his head. She cursed and started working on him again.

* * *

At 6am, the Headmaster came into the infirmary. "You kids need to go get cleaned up. I'm holding a mandatory assembly this morning at breakfast. Ms. Nott, hold on for a second."

After the Gryffindors left, the Headmaster turned towards Gabriella. "Harry told you Voldemort was back right?"

She nodded.

"Do you feel safe going back to the Slytherin dorms?"

"I'll be fine sir. I may not always act like I belong in Slytherin, but there's a reason I'm there. I'll find a way to spin this."

The Headmaster chuckled. "If you ever feel unsafe, for any reason, come to me or any of the other professors. Arrangements can be made."

"Thank you sir." Gabriella then left the infirmary.

The Headmaster headed towards the private room where Harry was being kept.

"I thought he was better?" he asked as he entered the room.

"He's better than he was last night but it's still going to be a tough couple of days."

Albus nodded.

"Any word from Severus?" she asked as she cast a spell to change Harry's sheets.

"No and I'm seriously concerned."

"You needn't be Headmaster. I'm alright."

Everyone turned towards the door.

"Severus. Thank God," said Albus. He pulled the man into a hug.

Severus bore the hug patiently and even patted the Headmaster on the back before walking further into the room and shutting the door. Albus shot a spell at it so no one would open it.

"How is Harry?"

Sirius turned back into himself and glared at Snape, no doubt for using the boy's first name.

"He's had better days. Severus, can you reverse any of these? They're the only ones I've not been able to find a reversal to yet."

Severus took the list and looked it over. He saw a line drawn through the withering curse. His head shot up, eyes filled with alarm.

"It was caught in time," she said.

He nodded then resumed scanning the list. "Where was he hit with '_Sectumsempra_'?

"His chest. I don't know a counter to it and I've been changing the bandages often and giving him blood replenishing potions to counter balance what he's lost."

Severus went to Potter's bedside and removed the bandage on his chest with deft fingers. He berated himself for not recognizing the spell last night as he murmured some Latin under his breath while he traced his wand along side of the wound.

Everyone watched as the wound knitted itself closed.

"How did you know to do that?" demanded Sirius after making sure that Harry didn't wake up.

Severus stood back up. "Because that curse is one I invented myself when I was in school. Poppy, I'll write down the counter for you."

"You invented that?" demanded Sirius.

"I did."

"I outta -"

"Gentlemen, cease the hostilities."

"I brought a copy of the Daily Prophet with me. I had assumed it would be good news to you Black. I don't think I'll show it to you now."

"Let me see Severus. It hadn't been delivered yet when I came down this morning."

Albus took the paper and unfolded it.

On the front page, in huge letters was the rotating headline:

'**Sirius Black Innocent!' **

'**Proof of Peter Pettigrew Alive!'**

'**You-Know-Who's Possible Return!'**

'_Last night, at the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory claimed simultaneous victory by retrieving the Tri-Wizard Cup together. However, that victory was short lived. When the boys touched the cup, they discovered that it had been turned into an illegal port key._

_There had been a viewing screen set up so everyone watched as the boys were ambushed. Sadly, Cedric Diggory was killed by the illegal killing curse. Hogwarts will mourn that students' loss greatly. Harry Potter, however, appeared to be the real target. He was tied to the Headstone by none other than long believed dead, Peter Pettigrew._

_Mr. Potter, known for defeating You-Know-Who at the age of 15 months, pleaded with Pettigrew to not go through with the plan to bring You-Know-Who back to his body. However, the spectators of the third task was disrupted of viewing the rest of the events due to an imposter disguised as Alastor Moody destroying the viewer._

_An hour and a half after Mr. Potter was taken, he arrived back at Hogwarts near death. Evidence was then gathered, showing proof that it was indeed the real Peter Pettigrew._

_Madam Bones pulled Sirius Black's old trial records and found that there wasn't any old trial record. There was just a single piece of parchment that had Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts, saying that to his knowledge, Sirius Black had been the Potter's secret keeper but that he had no proof. There had also been an auror report of the day Pettigrew had been supposedly killed. _

_It is summarized as saying that Black did not resist arrest and that as he was led away, all he said in his defense was, "There was no way he thought of that on his own."_

_Albus Dumbledore (defeater of the evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald) talked with Madam Bones and said that he has since learned that Peter Pettigrew had been the Potter's secret keeper and offered proof. She called an emergency hearing of the Wizengamot last night and they declared Sirius Black innocent of all charges._

_The Aurors are currently looking for Peter Pettigrew to question him in regards to the Potter's deaths and also in regards to the events last evening that left one student dead and another badly injured._

_Albus Dumbledore commented on the fact that Harry Potter did wake up long enough to say that You-Know-Who is back. The Headmaster believes him and encourages everyone to take caution as you go about your everyday life._

_Minister Fudge denies You-Know-Who being back. "He's dead and I will not disrupt the peace that we've strived 13 years to achieve. Now go away!"_

_The door was then slammed in this reporter's face. The Minister would not even comment on the now known innocence of Sirius Black._

"It goes on for at least another two pages," the Headmaster said as he finished reading part of the article out loud.

Sirius had a hopeful look on his face. "Is it true Albus? Am I free? Honest to goodness free?"

Albus smiled. "You are. I returned from the Wizengamot at dawn. I was going to let Harry tell you."

Sirius hugged Albus. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me Sirius. I'm not the one that offered up the proof."

"Who?"

"I'm not at liberty to say. All Madam Bones needed to see was physical proof of Peter Pettigrew to finish clearing your name. We've been working on it since last year. Some of the blood on Harry's robes belonged to Pettigrew. Since blood can't be faked, it was the last thing she needed."

"Please tell me my rights as Harry's godfather were reinstated."

Albus reached into his robes and handed over the paperwork stating that he was free. "They were. And just so you know, I registered your animagus form quietly."

Sirius nodded. "I can't wait to tell him," he said as he looked at Harry's still pale but sleeping form. Sirius was so engrossed at the possibility of telling Harry he was free, that he missed the pained look on Severus' face. Remus and Albus, however, both saw it.

"Severus, I've called a mandatory assembly of all the houses this morning. I imagine you're more tired than I am but you need to attend."

"Where is Ms. Nott?"

"I talked to her and told her that if she ever felt unsafe, she was to tell a professor. She assured me that she'd be fine, that she was in Slytherin for a reason."

Severus nodded.

"We'll be back gentlemen."

"Albus, I need to stay here. Between Potter and Alastor, my hands are full."

The Headmaster nodded.

* * *

"They're all accounted for and present," told each head of house to the Headmaster. "All of the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students are here as well," added Flitwick.

Albus then stood up to get everyone's attention.

"Last night Cedric Diggory was killed by the Killing Curse. Hogwarts lost a brilliant student and a brave and kind young man. We will be holding a memorial service for him in three days.

"What most of you may, or may not know, is that last night, the man that calls himself Lord Voldemort was reborn. I sent the majority of everyone away before the imposter disguised as Alastor Moody destroyed the viewer, which made you miss some of the events that occurred.

"The imposter was the one that entered Harry Potter into the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He was the one that turned the cup into a port key that took Cedric and Harry away from the school.

"Last night, Voldemort and Harry fought and Harry did indeed manage to return back to the castle. He was very badly injured. As a result, he will be in the hospital wing at least until the end of the semester.

"There will be no descending upon the hospital wing to see him or talk to him. If he is released sooner, you all are _not_ to ask him any questions. He fought and survived through a harrowing ordeal. If he chooses to talk about it, then that will be on him, but you are not to press the issue if he chooses to stay silent.

"Now, with Voldemort returned, everyone needs to be on their guard. No matter who you are, where you are from, who your parents are, or what your past is, if you need sanctuary or protection come to me or to another professor. You will not be judged.

"One last thing before you resume your breakfast. Your parents will most likely be horrified of everything I just told you but I will not lie to you. There is no reason to do so in my position. I am charged with your safety and I take it very seriously. When you read today's prophet, you will see that the Minister does not agree that Voldemort is back. I'm sure he has he reasons for that, whatever they may be.

"Now, I've spoken long enough. If you have any questions about anything, you may ask one of your teachers or even myself if I am available. Go back to your breakfast."

Albus re-took his seat. Slowly the noise level in the Great Hall resumed it's normal level.

* * *

Albus sat down in the chair behind his desk. He blindly downed a pepper up potion. He was exhausted.

Severus wasn't looking much better.

"Severus are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm just tired. I wasn't tortured."

"Did he question you?"

"All night long with veritaserum."

Albus head snapped up. "Severus?"

Severus sighed. It was time to come clean. "Six years ago, I developed a form of ... half-immunity to it."

"And how did you develop that?"

"I brewed a variation of the antidote and I injected it straight into my veins. I knew that when the Dark Lord did return, there was a possibility that I would not get to drink it before I was interrogated." Severus reached into his robes to pull out his personal potions grimoire. He flipped to the appropriate page and slid it across the Headmaster's desk. "I never told you because I knew that you would be obliged to report it. I've never told anyone about it actually. I couldn't risk it falling into the wrong hands that I could do this."

"I wouldn't have told anyone Severus," said Albus. He didn't need to see Severus' notes so he closed the book. "And I understand you not telling me. How does it work?"

"When I'm given veritaserum, I answer questions in a monotone voice and I do have to tell the truth, but only the version of the truth I want known. Even if it's slipped unknowingly to me, I'd be able to tell I ingested it and the result would be the same." Severus put the book back in his robes. "I was questioned the entire time I was gone with it. I was actually afraid he was going to overdose me."

"Did he say anything?"

"He was hoping to keep his return a secret. I imagine he's not going to be pleased with Pettigrew being revealed either."

"Did you see any other Death Eaters?"

"Just the Dark Lord and Nagini. He said he had Pettigrew off preparing his new base of operations. Merlin only knows where that will be."

Albus stroked his beard. "Is Riddle aware of his connection with Harry yet?"

"What connection? You've never fully explained this to me." Severus' voice was laced with annoyance.

"That's because I'm not sure how it works, I just know it's there."

"Just tell me what you know. Maybe I can help you figure it out."

Albus sighed. Perhaps it was time to tell Severus some of what he suspected. "All I know is that Harry's scar is more than a scar. As Tom grew stronger this past year, so did Harry's connection with him. Harry's first vision was before the Quidditch World Cup. He wrote to Sirius, who in turn, told me."

"And you still let him go to the game?"

Albus nodded. "He cannot quit living his life and he was protected there, more so than I'm sure he realizes. Later visions came with Tom's mood swings. Harry wrote me a note telling me each vision he had."

The Headmaster reached into a drawer and pulled out a box. "They're in this."

"So that day I came across Potter having a vision, he was really seeing through the Dark Lord's eyes?"

"He was."

"Does this hurt him?" asked Severus.

"Harry said that he gets dizzy and nauseous each time it happens. His scar sometimes bleeds and it hurts him. After a couple of hours, the symptoms normally go away. It's definitely not a pleasant sensation."

Severus frowned. "Would occlumency help him?"

Albus raised a brow. "It should. I've been giving it some serious consideration. I'm worried that Tom can exploit the connection once he realizes that it's there. He might plant images in Harry's mind. It wouldn't take much for him to go blindly rushing off to save someone."

"I fully expect him to give me a heart attack, just so you know," Severus said wryly. "Were you planning on teaching him occlumency when you give him lessons on how to manage his power level?"

"I'm not going to be giving him lessons on how to manage his power levels unless he asks me for them."

"Why?" demanded Severus, shocked.

"Because he appears to be a natural at managing his power already. The only reason that he went to Poppy was because he couldn't find any books that described the glow he was seeing. He thought his power level was perfectly normal."

"Albus, you can teach him how to embrace his power and how to use it to his fullest extent."

"And in doing so, I would feel like -" Albus cut off when an elf suddenly appeared in the room.

"Sir, Minister Fudge and 3 auror's is being here to see you and Harry Potter. The minister is looking very upset."

Albus sighed. Clearly he wasn't going to get any sleep any time soon. "Take them to the hospital wing, the long way."

The elf grinned. "Yes sir. The stairs might accidently take us to the wrong floor too!"

After the elf vanished, Severus reached into his robes and pulled out a potion. He downed it quickly and became invisible. They then floo'd to the infirmary.

"Poppy, Fudge is on his way up here. I have no idea what he wants but it can't be good." The Headmaster walked into the private room. "Sirius, change into Padfoot. The minister is on his way up here and even though you are free, I'd rather not push his buttons today."

He nodded and changed.

Severus went and stood in the corner so he wouldn't be accidently hit.

Fifteen minutes later, Fudge and 3 aurors entered the room.

"We're here to question Mr. Potter under veritaserum. You are to wake him up now."

"Minister, the boy needs his rest. He is still healing."

"Wake him up! Now!"

"Oy! There's no need to yell Ron, I'm awake," muttered Harry. "Keep Hermione away from the cold water."

Albus couldn't help but chuckle. "Harry. Minister Fudge is here to see you."

To everyone's disbelief, Fudge shoved Albus out of the way and went to the bedside, jerked Harry's jaw open and dumped an entire vial of Veritaserum into his mouth before anyone could react.

That woke Harry up in a flash and he responded with a wave of accidental magic that sent Fudge flying across the room and into the wall with a sickening crunch.

"Cornelius! I'll report you for that," said Albus. He had such a fire in his eyes that it made even the Auror's back up.

"What did he do to me?" coughed out Harry.

Fudge tried to get up from the floor holding his now broken arm. "I gave you veritaserum, boy!"

Harry flinched at the word boy. A nearby chair started to rattle.

Remus carefully put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Calm down Harry."

Harry took a deep breath. He started sweating and got really dizzy. "Remus..."

Madam Pomphrey put a rag on Harry's forehead after pushing him back down. "Minister, you need to leave. That much veritaserum with all the other potions in him can poison him."

"Not until I get the truth. Is You-Know-Who back?"

Harry opened his eyes and truly glanced around the room for the first time. It was spinning.

"Is You-Know-Who truly back?" he asked again.

Harry looked at Fudge. "Yes, Voldemort is back and if you don't believe me, ask Auror O'Bannen. He was there after his rebirth," Harry said as he shifted his gaze from Fudge to the Auror standing in the doorway.

To everyone's horror, the auror pulled an object out of his robes and tossed it at Harry.

It was like one of those moments where about 10 things happened at once - seemingly in slow motion.

Sirius resumed his normal self and made to grab for the object, only to miss.

Remus shot a stunning spell at the same time another Auror shot a binding spell at Auror O'Bannen.

Auror Shacklebolt (who was accompanying the Minister as well) shot a binding spell at Fudge.

Albus had shot a blasting charm at the object, which hit it's mark.

Severus, who had picked up the veritaserum bottle when Harry had flung Fudge across the room, sniffed it. An alarmed expression came over his face, not that anyone could see it since he was invisible.

And Harry, as soon as he had outed Auror O'Bannen as a Death Eater, he started convulsing.

Then within the next second, everyone was talking at once.

Remus dragged the bound auror and Fudge out of the room.

Suddenly there was a shrill whistle. Everyone saw the bottle Snape had in his hand float in the air. "Albus, it's not veritaserum," came the invisible voice of Severus. "It's Fervenus*."

"Severus, are you sure?"

"I am. It has a distinct smell."

"We need to take him to St. Mungo's," said Sirius.

"No," said Snape. "I'll return in 2 minutes. Poppy, put a bezoar in his mouth and a calming draught in his stomach, as well as one to prevent nausea."

When Severus returned 2 minutes later (invisible by charm and not potion this time), he saw Shacklebolt and the other Auror standing guard over the stunned Death Eater and obviously insane Fudge. If he had his way, he'd kill Fudge himself after this.

Severus entered the room and closed the door. He then turned himself visible again. He handed Poppy 5 potion vials and a piece of paper. "If this is followed to the letter, the potion won't hurt him."

"I want to take him to St. Mungo's," hissed Sirius.

"No Black," snarled Severus right back.

"He's right Sirius. We can ask a healer to come here but Harry will be too exposed in St. Mungo's."

Poppy spelled the first potion into Harry.

"What do we do now?" asked Remus.

"Now. Now we wait and we pray," replied Albus solemnly.

* * *

*Fervenus is very very very loosely translated as Liquid Fire. Very loosely. =)

A/N: *whistles innocently* Would ya look at that? Man, it's another cliff-hanger! *grins and ducks the flying objects*

So, I played around with how Snape could withstand so much Veritaserum, and while I wasn't originally keen on the idea of him having injected it straight into his veins, I figured it was the best way to go. Voldemort could have known if he had taken a pre-antidote before hand, plus it would have eventually worn off. If you don't like it, I'm sorry. =/

I'm sure a few of you are wondering if I am going to give everyone a happy ending. I will say that I'm a big fan of them myself, but that main reason I freed Sirius now was that I needed him free for a major plot early in the 5th book. Besides, what a better time than to do it now? Most everyone had seen Pettigrew on the viewer. Plus, I'm going on the assumption that the wizarding world has way's of detecting if blood had been falsified or randomly planted a lot easier than in the muggle world. It's magic after all! *grins*

And also, I'm going out of town to visit relatives this week. I'm actually supposed to be leaving in 6 hours. I should be sleeping but wanted to get this out. My dad and step-mom do not have internet (it's ghastly!) so unless I can find someplace to connect, I won't be able to get another chapter up until this weekend. I am taking my netbook and all of my notes in order to keep working on it though. Hopefully as a reward for everyone's patience, I'll be able to post a couple chapter's fairly quickly when I return.

Have a safe week! *set's out lots of treat's to lure review's while I'm gone this week*


	83. Waking Up and Discussions

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any character thereof! I just like to play with them a little bit. ;-)

* * *

Chapter 83

* * *

Harry groaned softly and automatically reached for his glasses. He frowned when he realized they were not in their normal spot.

Blinking slowly revealed that he was in the hospital wing. He rubbed his eyes and squinted.

Gabriella, Hermione, and Ron were in sleeping bags on the floor. Remus and Sirius were asleep in the chairs near the windows. The magical signature of Snape was in a chair in the corner. (He couldn't tell if he was asleep or not - though why Snape would even be present was beyond his understanding at the moment.)

A second later he realized that Sirius wasn't in dog form. Didn't his godfather know that Gabby could wake up at any time? And the door was open. Anyone could walk by and see him!

Madam Pomphrey came in the room then. "Well, well. How are you feeling Mr. Potter?" she whispered.

"Sore and confused."

"I bet."

"Why is Sirius changed? You need to poke him and tell him to changed back before Gabriella wakes up."

Madam Pomphrey chuckled softly. "He's fine. Sit still for a minute while I scan you."

Harry done so.

"Your scans are much better. You have had everyone worried."

Harry rubbed his eyes again. "Why? What happened?"

Madam Pomphrey cast the eye sight repairing charm on him after she was done. She waved away his thanks. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Harry concentrated. "You telling me that I'd be here for a while and that my leg would be in a brace for a couple of days." He then realized that the brace was gone.

Madam Pomphrey sighed. "It's currently July 1st. Your friends will be leaving to go home on the train this morning."

Harry's heart started racing. "I've been unconscious for a week?" he whispered, alarmed. He thought he'd have more time.

"More or less." She handed him a calming draught. "Take this. I won't have you undoing all the work we've spent on you by panicking."

Harry nodded and downed it. He felt better almost instantly. "What time is it?"

"Four in the morning."

He frowned. "Can I go to the loo?"

She nodded. "I'll help you to the door. You've not walked in over a week. Don't be surprised if you discover that you're weaker than normal."

Harry nodded. Twenty minutes later he was back in bed.

"I let the Headmaster know you're awake. He told me to give you the Daily Prophet papers from the day of the third task until yesterday."

"I'm so confused," he whispered.

"When they start waking up and see that you're awake, I have no doubt they'll bombard you with everything that's happened. It will be overwhelming. At least if you read the prophet, you'll have an idea of what they will be talking about."

Harry nodded and looked at the stack of papers at his bedside. He went to reach for his wand only to discover it missing.

"Where's my wand?"

"I have it locked up so you're not tempted. You are not to do any magic for at least 24 hours. I'll re-evaluate that tomorrow."

"I'm not leaving on the train today?"

"On no, Mr. Potter. You'll still be in here for another 3 to 4 days at least."

Harry made a face at her then picked up the paper of the day that the third task took place.

* * *

Severus had woken up when Harry had. He breathed a sigh of relief. His color was still a tad bit pale but he looked so much better than he had been.

This past week had been a nightmare. He had been to see the Dark Lord 3 times. Then he and Albus had gotten into a disagreement. They had since made up and come to a solution - oddly enough, thanks to the damn sorting hat. Then he and Black had almost come to physical blows - twice.

Remus had hexed them both when that had happened.

Severus had taken to sitting at Harry's bedside invisible once Black and the rest had fallen asleep. He was never a praying man, but he prayed that his son would be alright. He could not lose him, not after just realizing that he was his son. A couple of nights ago, Harry had started tossing and turning, lost in another one of his nightmares. Severus had managed to calm the boy down with just his touch. It had surprised him.

He stood up to stretch when Harry had picked up the papers. He watched as the boy read the one saying the third task would be that day. Harry put the article aside after a moment.

The pain in Harry's eyes was clear. He was reliving the entire night in his mind. At once point he looked confused. "_Cloaca Salus_," he whispered. "I remember hearing those words before I passed out."

Severus left to go tell Poppy that he was remembering some things.

* * *

"Did he have to tell you to bring me more potions?" he asked when he looked at the bottles in her hands as she came in the room.

She chuckled. "We've already fixed the curse you remembered. You don't need to take any of these yet. If you need another calming draught, you can have one."

Harry looked away. "I'm fine."

"The Headmaster will be down in a few minutes. Do try to stay quiet when you read the next Daily Prophet."

"Uh, alright."

Severus waited until Poppy left before he went to stand in the doorway.

He saw Harry glance at him and just shake his head. However, the boy's eyes went comically wide when he saw the next paper that proclaimed Blacks' innocence.

Severus shook his own head and headed down towards his lab. He didn't need to see what surely would happen next.

* * *

Harry couldn't believe his eyes. He devoured the entire Daily Prophet in record time. When he looked up, the Headmaster was sitting in a chair. "Is it true sir?" he whispered. "Is he really free? I can legally go home with him now?"

The Headmaster smiled. "It is. He's free and has been re-instated as your godfather."

"How did this happen?" asked Harry.

"One of my colleagues at the ministry and I have been working to free him since last year. When you came back to Hogwarts after the tournament, I took your clothes and had them examined. Some of Pettigrew's blood was on them."

"At least something good came of that night. Professor, when my wand connected with Voldemort's, Cedric's ghost -"

"Echo," corrected Dumbledore gently and quietly.

"Echo, he told me to tell his parents that he loved them."

"If you want, I can arrange for a meeting between you and them when you're better."

Harry nodded. "What all was I hit with that knocked me out for a week?"

"You'd have been out of here a couple of days ago had Fudge not tried to poison you."

"What?" hissed Harry.

"Read the next prophet. It's fairly accurate to an extent."

Harry glanced at the next paper. The headline read: **'Fudge Has Breakdown, Tries to Kill Boy-Who-Lived!'**

Harry quickly read the article. "I identified a Death Eater?"

"An auror Death Eater. You don't remember?"

Harry shook his head. "So Fudge had a nervous breakdown and tried to kill me? Why?"

"The auror you identified as a Death Eater had hit him with a paranoia hex and then began whispering in his ear about how we were plotting to usurp him and take over the ministry."

"Did Voldemort have the auror do that?"

The Headmaster shook his head. "It's my guess that he was hoping to move up in his ranks and he thought that doing this would please him."

Harry frowned and thought back to the graveyard. "No. I'm his to kill, no one elses."

"We'll talk again after everyone leaves, and Harry, listen to your friends. They care very deeply about you."

Harry looked over to see Gabriella stir. When he looked back at the Headmaster's chair, it was empty.

'Too be so old, he sure moves fast,' Harry mused to himself.

Harry picked up the next Daily Prophet. **'Marius Overwhelm Declared New Minister!'**

"Harry? You're awake!"

Harry smiled. "I woke up a couple of hours ago." His voice was still slightly rough from non-use for a week.

Gabriella untangled herself from the sleeping bag and ran to give Harry a hug.

"Are you alright?" he whispered.

She laughed. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Everyone started moving then. They all had the same reaction she had.

Sirius had given him an even tighter hug. "Oh, Harry. I've been worried senseless about you."

"You're free Sirius. Now you can do whatever you want!" A sudden fear took him. Would Sirius still want him?

Sirius felt Harry tense in his arms. "Harry, what's wrong?"

Not wanting to pressure his godfather, he relaxed some. "Nothing." He smiled. "What are you going to do now that you're free?"

"I'm not sure. What did you want to do this summer?"

"Me?" asked Harry.

"Yeah. You are coming to stay with me - unless you really want to stay with the Dursley's?" Sirius' tone told him that staying with the Dursley's was really not an option.

"Only if you want me to come stay. I mean, you're free, you can go do whatever you want to do now."

Sirius ruffled Harry's already messy hair. "I want us to be a family."

Harry hugged Sirius again.

"Sirius, his friends are going to be leaving in a couple of hours. Let them catch up."

"All right. If you need anything kiddo, let me know. I'll be right outside the door."

As soon as the adults left, Harry took a deep breath. He was about to do something that was not going to be easy.

"Listen guys, I need to talk to you about something."

"Here he goes," said Ron.

"Forget it Harry. It's not going to happen," said Hermione.

"You don't even know what I was going to say," he huffed.

"So you weren't about to tell us that you can't be our friend anymore?" asked Ron.

"You weren't going to tell us how it's going to be dangerous to be your friend?" asked Hermione.

Harry scowled. "You don't understand. If Voldemort can't get to me directly, he can get to me through you. He's already killed Cedric because of me. I'll _never_ get the image of Cedric lying there dead out of my mind. Do you think I want to be responsible for your deaths too?"

Hermione sat at the foot of the bed. "Harry, you're not responsible for Cedric's death. You-Know-Who and Pettigrew are."

"I told him to take the cup with me!"

"Mate, listen. We saw you on the viewer. We saw you both argue over who should take the cup. Neither of you could have known that the cup was a port key. Suggesting you take it together does not make it your fault."

"Harry," said Hermione gently. "If we were to stop talking to each other today and we were somehow captured a year and a half from now, would you mourn us even less?"

Harry frowned. "But he wouldn't have a reason to come after you all anymore."

Gabriella spoke up for the first time since the conversation had started. "Evil doesn't need a reason Harry. It does what it wants to."

Harry looked around the room.

"Harry, you need us," stated Hermione.

"Just as much as we need you," finished Ron.

"I just want you all to be safe. If you got hurt, I would never forgive myself."

"It would not be your fault. The blame would be on the person that hurt or killed us. Not you."

Harry just shook his head. "You knew that I would talk to you about this."

All three people nodded.

Harry scowled and after a few minutes caved. "You're right, as usual."

Both Ron and Hermione hugged him.

"Where's Neville?" asked Harry.

"The dorm. We all packed everything yesterday morning, except him. We were to include him in that speech by the way."

Harry merely smiled. "Can you give Gabby and myself a couple of minutes alone?"

Ron and Hermione nodded.

"I'm sorry that I've put you in such a bad position," he said once the duo had left the room.

"You haven't," she said smiling at him.

"Merlin knows I don't want to but I think we should -" Harry paused, having just realized what she said. "I've not put you in a bad position?" He ruffled his hair out of confusion.

Gabriella smiled. "Nope."

"Gabriella, I saw your father at Voldemort's re-birthing. He told Voldemort that he would bring you to him. How does that not put you in a bad position with him and with your class mates."

"If my father takes me to meet the Dark Lord, then I'll go to him. I won't have a choice in that."

"Gabriella, he could torture you."

She took his hand. "Harry, when you asked me to the ball, I said yes. I thought you were cute, I knew you were powerful, and I knew that it would shock everyone - not to mention the fact that it would upset my brother."

Harry made a face.

"I expected that night to be boring. Most guys hate dancing -"

"I'm one of them."

"- and talking. I never expected to have as good of a time as I did. When I told you about my father being a Death Eater, I had already begun considering all the angles. All my life, I've heard how the Dark Lord would return. When we agreed to keep seeing each other, I had considered the fact that he could return at any time."

"I couldn't stand it if he killed you or even hurt you," said Harry.

"Harry, I'm in Slytherin for a reason. I'm just as cunning as the others. I know how to survive."

Harry knew he was defeated. "Can you blame me for worrying?"

She smiled. "I think I'd be more concerned if you didn't worry."

"Just ... if you are made to go, don't lie to him. Tell him whatever he wants to know about me."

She nodded.

Harry then thought about something else she had said. "What exactly have you been telling your classmates?"

Gabriella giggled. "Most think I'm seducing you to learn all of your secrets."

Harry sputtered.

"Some think I'm seducing you to break your heart. And the rest ... well they think I'm seducing you to get access to your power. I was, after all, raised to go after power."

Harry cried out in indignation. "But either way I'm being seduced!"

A muffled sound came at the door. Evidently someone had been listening.

Gabriella nodded. "Yep. Why do you think my brother has been wanting to strangle you?"

Harry threw a pillow at her.

She smiled as she caught it. "I can't promise we'll last over the summer, I do have to listen to my parents after all, but we'll take this one day at a time and see how we do. Your godfather told me that if we wanted to meet up in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade this summer, he'd take you there - chaperoned of course - what with the Dark Lord wanting you dead and all."

Harry grinned and pulled her into a hug. He then kissed her.

Really kissed her.

A couple minutes later a knock came at the door.

They pulled apart, both blushing.

"You can come back in now," said Harry.

Ron and Hermione came in. "Breakfast is in a few minutes. We need to head down there."

Harry nodded.

"We'll write to you Harry. Sirius said that we could even come visit," said Hermione.

"I'll write to you as often as I can," added Gabby. "Don't worry so much about me. I'll be fine. You just get better."

"Alright. Stay safe. All three of you. And tell Neville the same goes for him too."

They nodded.

He and Gabriella shared a last look and then she walked out of the door, followed by Ron and Hermione.

By the time Remus and Sirius had entered the room 10 minutes later, Harry was sound asleep.

* * *

Harry woke up later that afternoon to an empty room. Thankfully the eye sight repairing charm was still working so he didn't have to squint.

He had almost made it out of the bed to head to the bathroom when he was ambushed by Madam Pomphrey.

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better. Just sore but it's tolerable." The last thing he needed was more potions in him. "Actually, I'm kind of hungry."

She nodded. "I'll get you something light to eat. You may use the tub in the bathroom - no shower. You're still to weak to stand for any long period of time. I'm sure you know where the hospital pajama's are in the cupboard by now."

Harry nodded.

Forty minutes later, after a _really_ hot bath to loosen his muscles, he was back in the bed eating a bowl of soup. (Madam Pomphrey had told him that if he tolerated the soup, he would get something more solid at dinner.)

"Hey kiddo! Feeling better?" asked Sirius as he came in the room.

Harry nodded.

"I saw Professor McGonagall in the hall. She asked me to give this to you."

Harry took it. He grinned. It was his grades.

Ancient Runes - E

Astronomy - A

Care of Magical Creatures - O

Charms - O

Defense Against the Dark Arts - O

Divination - D

Herbology - E

History of Magic - E

Potions - A

Transfiguration - A

Harry snorted. "I knew I shouldn't have stopped predicting my own death. Ron's actually going to murder me now."

"What are you on about?"

Harry handed over his grades. "In Divination, I got good grades if I predicted my own death but after dreaming of Voldemort actually planning my death, I got tired of writing about it. So I stopped."

"And why is Ron going to murder you?"

"Because it gives me an excuse to drop Divination. Hermione dropped it last year, so it would just be him and Neville."

"You sure are taking a lot of classes," Sirius said as he looked over Harry's grades.

Harry nodded.

"Why only acceptable in Astronomy, Potions, and Transfiguration?"

"Because Astronomy and Transfiguration is really hard."

"And potions?"

Harry just shrugged.

Sirius growled. "Snivellus is punishing you because of how we treated him in school. It's not right."

"Please don't call him that Sirius and he can't really give me good grades if you think about it," Harry said quietly.

"Why?"

"Because he has to make Voldemort think I am the bane of his existence. Whether I am or not is another story, but he can't show any favoritism towards me."

"But Voldemort just returned."

"I have class with the Slytherins. I'm sure Malfoy would have told his father if I was being shown any good attention."

Sirius looked Harry over. "When did you become so grown up?"

"I still have a way to go," he said wryly. "Where's my trunk at? I need to put this list with my books. It has my summer homework on it."

"Still in Gryffindor Tower. No one could touch your trunk. It shocked anyone that tried."

"Oh yea. Heh. It's a defense mechanism. Ensure's my privacy." Harry suddenly frowned. "Did anyone tell the Dursley's that I'm not going back to their house."

"Nope," said Sirius grinning. He then sobered. "Harry, how did they treat you?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Sirius frowned. "If you need to, then you can. I'll listen."

Harry nodded. "Where's Remus?"

"Talking to Sniv - er... Snape about something."

"Think Madam Pomphrey will let me go get my stuff if you come with me?"

"Not a chance, Mr. Potter. Drink this."

Harry made a face. "What's it for?"

"It's a very mild pain reliever."

Harry sighed and downed it in one gulp.

* * *

"Are you sure Lupin?"

"I am. I've been pouring over all my books and this is the ritual that I helped James do."

Severus sat down in a chair as he read the ritual described.

"No wonder the boy is so powerful," whispered the potions master.

"Keep reading," said Remus.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?"

"The fact that Harry was 5 months old when James performed the ritual."

"You said he was 3 months old."

Remus shook his head. "He was 3 months old when James found out about Lily's potion. It took us two months to find something that would make a paternity test definitely show James as the father without harming Harry nor tipping Lily off. Of course, we didn't realize that her potion already did that. That text was hard to read and neither of us actually thought to perform a paternity test."

"So the blood adoption didn't affect his power level or genes?" he asked while still reading the page.

"Genes, some. James wanted to make him his in more than just name. It _is_ blood magic. Harry's natural flying ability had to come from somewhere after all but this doesn't affect his power level any. That was all you and Lily."

Severus thought back to the photo album and to the caption that had been under one of the photo's. "It had to have affected his power level. I have a picture of Harry summoning a bottle when he was 5 months old. Five month olds do not do magic. Most children don't start to show magic until they're around two or three years old."

Remus grinned. "Sorry Severus. He started summoning things three weeks before James done the blood adoption."

Severus set the book down and rubbed his temples. He didn't know whether to feel relieved, proud, or terrified.

* * *

"Harry, can I talk to you?"

Harry looked up from a Quidditch book and nodded.

The Headmaster sat down across from him. "I hear Madam Pomphrey is springing you tomorrow."

Harry nodded. "I can't wait," he said grinning. "I saw in the paper today where the new Minister issued a general statement for the public about how to stay safe."

"What did you think of it?" asked the Headmaster.

"Honestly? I found it to be lacking."

The Headmaster chuckled. "As did I, my boy, as did I."

"Did you need something?"

"I believe I promised you a conversation."

Harry sat up straight in bed. "I want to know everything. I'm tired of being kept in the dark or finding out things second handed."

"There will be some things that I will not be able to tell you. So let's start with what I can."

Harry frowned but nodded.

"During the last rise of Voldemort, I founded an Order named The Order of the Phoenix. What we done was basically try to undermine Tom and his Death Eaters - foil his plans, so to speak."

"Did it work?"

"We saved some lives but as it is with war, we lost some too."

"Were my parents part of the order?"

Albus nodded.

"Can I join?"

"No. It's for overaged people that have already graduated."

"But sir, I want to help. I can help. I know it."

"There is nothing you can do, Harry. You need to finish growing up, experience life more. You already have enough on your plate without worrying about order missions on top of it."

"What more do I have on my plate - other than Voldemort wanting me dead? You've never told me why he wants me dead either. That's something else I want to know."

The Headmaster sighed, knowing he couldn't avoid this conversation anymore. "Before you were born, a prophecy was made to me saying that at the end of July, a baby would be born with the power to defeat the Dark Lord - that he would be born to parents who had defied him three times."

After a minute had past, Harry looked up. "Surely that's not all of it."

"It's not, but that's all Voldemort's servant heard before he had been discovered. That is all I can tell you at the moment."

"What?" cried Harry in outrage.

"I will be able to tell you the rest after you learn occlumency."

"What's that?"

"It's a way to shield your mind against intrusion."

Harry's hand flew up to his scar.

"Right now, Riddle is unaware of the connection that you two appear to share. The connection that jerks you into his mind could be two way. Once he realizes its there, he could exploit any thing you know."

"The full prophecy and order plans," said Harry with understanding.

Albus nodded. "He could also plant images. He would prey on your 'Hero Complex', as Ms. Nott has called it, to rush in to save someone - only for it to be a trap."

"I've never heard of occlumency. How does it work?"

"It's a very rare branch of magic. Most people who attempt it never gets the hang of it. I can count on two hands the number of Master Occlumens I've ever met in my life."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "What makes you think I can learn it?"

"Three things. The first being that once you put your mind to something, you tend to excel at it. The patronus for instance. To cast a corporeal one at 13 is incredible.

"The second being that you hate being kept in the dark and this is the only way you will be able to really learn anything. Something tells me that you will be determined enough to learn it to the best of your ability.

"The first being that you really are a remarkable young man. You are unique - special. You have the power to put behind anything you try which can only help you succeed."

"But the power scares me. I used all of my power during the duel and it terrified me a lot more than the fact that I was most likely going to die."

"Have you never put all of your power behind a spell before then?" asked the Headmaster, intrigued.

"No. It felt wrong to do so. I could just see me managing to blow myself up with a simple levitation charm."

The Headmaster chuckled. "You'll be pleased to know that you can't blow yourself up with a levitation charm."

"Doesn't mean I'd not find a way," Harry said dryly.

"Now, there are many benefits to occlumency. The first being you won't get dragged into Voldemort's mind and he won't be able to access yours. The second being that, since it's an ordering of the mind, you won't have as many nightmares."

"How-?"

"With everything you've seen these past few years, I would be concerned if you didn't have them."

Harry frowned. "Madam Pomphrey said that she wouldn't tell you about me needing the dreamless sleep potions."

"And she didn't but while you were unconscious, you dreamed. You seemed to be locked in endless nightmares. They only stopped when Madam Pomphrey spelled a dreamless sleep draught into you. Mr. Weasley told us how you've been putting silencing charms on yourself before you go to bed for a couple of years - so you would not wake anyone up."

Harry turned red. He didn't think anyone had noticed and if Ron did, then so did the rest of his dorm mates.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Even I get them on occasion."

Harry seemed to ponder that.

The Headmaster continued speaking. "I know that you've learned some meditation techniques."

Harry nodded.

"Occlumency is one of the most advanced variations of it. When you learn it, you'll likely gain access to even more of your power, like how what you've practice so far has allowed your magic to grow so that you could see magical signatures."

Harry watched his last hope of ever being normal fly out of the window. "Professor, I'm going to need help. I can't control any more power. I don't _want_ any more power."

"When you need help, I will help you but you have a pretty good handle on it already, otherwise we would have had this conversation early in your first year."

"Will you be teaching me occlumency?" asked Harry after a few minutes of silence had passed while he processed what he had been told.

"Yes ... and no. It's hard to teach someone occlumency without having to invade their mind first, which would weaken whatever defense's you have made naturally."

"I don't understand."

"You need a good solid theoretical knowledge base in occlumency as well as good solid practical meditation techniques but the problem is, there really aren't any book on occlumency, at least not that explain it in detail."

"Then how am I supposed to learn it? Are you going to write down what you know about it?"

The Headmaster pulled out the sorting hat.

"Myself and another Master Occlumens had considered it but realized that it would take too long to do so, but the sorting hat seems to be of the mind that it can help you."

"The sorting hat ... sir?" asked Harry in disbelief.

"I've asked it how it could help but it became rather cryptic."

"It won't try to resort me will it? Because I'm quite happy in Gryffindor."

The Headmaster chuckled. "It won't. I've already told it not too."

Harry nodded, took the hat, and placed it on his head.

'Well, well Mr. Potter,' the hat said into Harry's mind. 'You have been a busy boy.'

'What are you talking about?'

'No need to play coy with me. I have the will of the Founders in me, whom I know you've recently met the ghosts of.'

Harry's eyes widened in surprise.

'Neutral face, Mr. Potter. The coot has already been pestering me about how I can help you with occlumency. Him and another had almost started hexing each other because of the disagreement on how to teach you.'

'You're kidding?' he asked.

'No, I'm not. Now, in the library, you'll find books entitled Mind Magic, all 4 Founders wrote books on it but you'll find more in Rowena's shelves. In her time, she taught it to advanced students who showed a natural affinity towards it.'

'They told me I can't take any books out and after I pack my stuff tomorrow, I'm going to my god father's home.'

'Tomorrow, before you pack, head to the library. They will meet you there. They will explain what they have in mind.'

'Uh ... okay. I'm not sure I can get away from everyone but I'll figure out a way to I guess.'

'Good luck Potter.'

Harry pulled the hat off of his head and handed it to the Headmaster. "The hat called you a coot, sir," said Harry grinning.

"The hat calls me a lot of things, I'm sure. So what did it tell you?"

Harry made a face. "I'm not allowed to say but I do have a question for you."

"Oh?"

"I've been pondering it for a while now. Can I be taught how to apparate in case I do find myself caught again?"

"You can't legally obtain your license until you're 17 but I do agree that you need to learn how to do it for _emergency situations only_. I'll talk to Sirius about teaching you over the summer."

Harry nodded.

"Any more questions?"

At Harry's incredulous look, the Headmaster chuckled. "Ask away then."

"Okay, so once I get a good understanding of occlumency, you'll help me test it?"

"I will or someone I trust will."

"Will you also teach me how to handle all of this power I seem to have? It terrifies me. I don't want to be powerful, I just want to be normal."

"Harry, look at me," Albus said gently.

Harry looked up.

"Right now, it's okay to be overwhelmed but you need to remember that you're doing remarkedly well so far. I'm proud of you, very proud. And to answer your question, once you get a handle on occlumency and if you have questions about your power, I can help you and will answer any questions you may have."

Harry turned red at the compliment. A minute or so had passed when Harry asked, "Er ... professor, can I ask you another question? It's something that's been bothering me for a while."

"Certainly."

"Voldemort was powerful when he was young too wasn't he?"

The Headmaster nodded.

"I'm afraid ... I'm afraid I'm going to become like him. I"ve read enough books and know enough history to know that most of the time, power corrupts. I'm not strong like you are to resist everything that gets thrown my way."

"I don't think you realize just how strong you are, Harry. In some ways, you are stronger than I ever have been."

Harry looked at the Headmaster disbelievingly.

"Temptation has come across my path many times and I've not always said no."

"What happened?" asked Harry, very much surprised.

"Nothing good, I assure you, and if I didn't have my friends and family to keep me grounded, I very well could have turned into Voldemort. Your fear, Harry, is not unfounded but you have something that Tom Riddle does not have and cannot stand to feel."

"What's that?"

"Love, Harry. Love. Tom was not shown any as he grew up and nor can he stand to feel it now. That is why your mother's protection was so valuable to you, why it hurt him to touch you.

"When I placed you at the Dursley's, I trusted that Petunia would show you love because you were all that was left of her sister."

"She didn't."

"And that blame falls on me because I didn't check up on you. I wanted you to grow up away from the Wizarding World, to not grow up with all of the fame that would have surrounded you if you would have been raised by a Wizarding family.

"And while I would never knowingly put a child through what I now suspect you've been through, I know that you _are_ stronger because of it."

Harry had to ask, even though he doubted he wanted the answer. "And if you had to do it all over again but knew how badly I was raised?"

"Then an alternative solution would have been found. I truly believed that she would show you the love she showed her own son. All I can do is apologize for not checking up on you."

Harry was silent, but nodded. "It's alright, so long as I never have to go back. I guess it did make me stronger ... in a way. Sirius said no one told them I wasn't coming back."

"I contacted Mrs. Figg. She took the Dursley's a letter I wrote."

Harry's eyes widened. "Mrs. Figg is a witch?"

Albus chuckled. "No. She's a squib. I've known her for many years. She moved into the neighborhood when you were three."

Harry frowned. "Didn't she tell you how I was treated?"

"No. My understanding is that she offered you shelter when she could but she didn't see any overt signs of abuse."

"They got good at hiding it," mumbled Harry.

"Harry, we can prosecute them for how they treated you."

"No. They never asked for me. As long as I don't have to go back, there's no need to."

"There is Harry. They cannot get away with what they've done."

Harry shrugged.

The Headmaster just shook his head. "Any other questions?"

"Three more for now and I need a small favor for tomorrow."

Albus nodded. "Go ahead."

"When am I going to be talking to Cedric's parents?"

"Tomorrow at noon, before you leave to go to Sirius' house. You'll talk to them in my office."

Harry nodded. "I know in the graveyard that the ... echo ... of my mom told me to trust Snape. Even my own gut tells me to trust him, but it's been wrong before. So, I need to know from you. Is he safe to trust?"

Albus looked Harry in the eyes. "I trust Severus Snape with my life."

Harry searched the Headmaster's gaze and nodded. "His behavior towards me in school is going to turn nastier isn't it? Since he'll have to keep his cover?"

"It will ... be unpleasant."

Harry thought that the Headmaster looked and sounded sad.

"Do you know what he wanted to talk to me about after the third task ... or even what my mom meant about being patient towards him?"

"I do but it is not my information to share."

Harry frowned again, but nodded. He had expected such an answer. He would still need to see if he could corner Snape. The man had given his word that he would explain to him whatever this big secret was.

"The favor?" asked the Headmaster.

"Tomorrow, I ... er ... need to go the tower to pack my stuff alone. Can you occupy Sirius so that I can do that?"

The Headmaster was clearly puzzled but nodded. "Now, we've talked for almost 3 hours. Get some sleep before dinner."

Harry nodded.

"And Harry, I really am proud of you."

Harry smiled as the Headmaster left the private hospital room.

* * *

A/N: I am so sorry guys. I swear I've not abandoned the fic. I have a feeling you all would hunt me down if I did. hehe First I was gone to my dad and step-mom's house for a week. They had no internet connection there. While I was there I started reworking my timeline ... again. I did this because I knew you all wouldn't keep waiting for Snapey-poo to come out and tell Harry the truth much longer. The problem with that was when I moved up my timeline, my muses just ... died. I was trying to force them ... and well ... muses don't like to be forced.

So, I took a 4 day break from writing. When I came back, it was like I had a new purpose. I re-worked the timeline again, re-did some chapters, went back to my original notes, made some new ones, and it was like magic. It just started flowing again.

I'm sure most of you know that I like to stay a few chapter's ahead of what I post. This one was originally two, but I felt bad for staying silent for so long. Unfortunately during my re-working, I lost quite a bit of what I had already written, so the updates, while I promise will be on time (barring something catastrophic happening of course), will only be about every 5 or 6 day's for a little bit. I promise they'll pick back up soon though. I just want to get a little bit of cushion space between what I post and what I write.

Now ... all that being said. I have bribes for making you all wait. *Hands out the chocolate*

Up next, Harry does indeed corner Snape. Calls him a prat too if memory serves me right. ;-) I'm aiming for a Sunday posting. If my writing/editing goes well, I might even get it posted on Saturday.

*burrows self in hole*

And thank you all for the wonderful reviews. While I may not get to respond to them all, I promise I do read them. =)


	84. Going Home

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or any of the character's!

* * *

Chapter 84

* * *

"You're free to go Mr. Potter. Please do try to stay safe this summer."

Harry grinned. "I dunno, Madam Pomphrey. That might make it a boring summer."

"Naturally," she said dryly.

Harry put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. After tying his shoes and making sure he had the things everyone had brought to him, he headed up toward the Room of Requirement.

He entered the Founder's Library and saw a box with some books next to it on the table.

"Anyone here?" he called out.

No one answered.

"I've only got a couple minutes," he said out loud again.

Still nothing.

He went over to look at the box. It was simple, but beautiful. The box was black with silver gilded edges. On the sides were each of the four house symbols. The lid had the Hogwarts crest on it.

Harry picked it up and shivered. He felt a wave of magic wash over him.

"Odd," he muttered.

When he tried to open the box, it wouldn't. He tried poking and prodding it, and even tickling each of the symbols but still nothing.

Ten minutes later, the box lid popped open. "I'm an idiot," he muttered.

There was a ghostly laugh. "Sometimes the best way to confound people is to do something very simple. So simple, most would not even try it."

Harry looked up to see the ghost of Rowena Ravenclaw floating in front of him. "I take it this was a test?"

"Naturally. If you did not figure out how to open the box, you would not have been able to take any of the books out of this room."

Harry nodded. "Are these the books the sorting hat suggested I read?"

"They are. The Headmaster and another were arguing so passionately over you that Helga gave the sorting hat a ... little poke so to speak."

"Who was he arguing with?"

"Not my place to say. Now, this box is enchanted with all sorts of spells. No one will be able to touch it except you. I know right now that there is another war brewing, that you are in danger more so than a lot of other people. If something should happen to you, the box and the books will automatically port back to this room."

Harry nodded.

"No one will be able to touch the books other than yourself, even if they are a parselmouth. The books will appear blank to anyone other than yourself should they look over your shoulder while reading. When you are not reading a book, they are to stay in their case and in the box. There are preservation charms on both."

"Anything else?"

"Not really. Just make sure before you start any of the things I describe in these books, that you have a good solid grip on meditation."

"Thank you, Lady Ravenclaw."

"You better hurry. Your godfather is about to head up to the dorms to check on you."

"Gah." Harry carefully put the books in the box and ran to Gryffindor Tower.

* * *

It didn't take long for him to pack. As he was heading back to the Headmaster's office, he saw a streak of black duck down a side hallway. His eyes narrowed. That had to have been Snape. He followed him.

"Professor?" he called out, which made Snape pause.

"What do you want Potter? Shouldn't you be running off with your godfather today?"

"I'm on my way to meet him, but you promised me that you would tell me this big secret of yours."

"I have since changed my mind," he said shortly and started to walk away again.

"But Professor, you gave me your word that you would tell me."

Severus sighed and stepped into an empty classroom, which made the boy follow him in. He watched as Harry shut the door. "Potter, in the grand scheme of things, what I have to tell you is not that important."

"It seemed to be important enough that you've tried to tell me all year long."

"Technically, it _is_ important, but I cannot tell you now with the way things are. Maybe one day I will be able to, but not now."

"I don't understand. Did Voldemort coming back change whatever it was that you had to tell me?"

"No, it does not change what I had to tell you, but it changes a lot of the things concerning what I had to tell you."

That statement made absolutely no sense to Harry. "Just tell me already. You're acting like the world's biggest prat," said Harry, rather bravely and really annoyed. He wanted the truth. This evasion was getting old.

"You really want to know? You want to know the truth?"

"I do. I hate being kept in the dark, especially when it concerns me."

"Fine," he spat. "The truth is that I'm your f-"

"What's going on in here?" demanded Sirius as he ran in the room.

"Padfoot, no!" came the shout of Remus from further down the hallway.

Snape suddenly looked like a kneezle that had been caught in a bright light. He put a mask of neutrality on and stormed out of the room.

"Harry, are you alright?" asked Sirius. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

Harry was furious but at who, he didn't know. "No. Let's go. The Headmaster is waiting."

* * *

Severus had barricaded himself in his room. He had been about to yell at his own son that he was the boy's father. Honestly. Even a sour man like himself knew that was not the way to tell the boy the truth.

And Harry calling him the worlds biggest prat. If Severus hadn't been so furious about the whole situation he might have laughed. He hadn't expected to be caught by the boy, otherwise he would have stayed in the dungeons, but Albus had sent him to retrieve something from one of his colleagues.

He suddenly groaned. That conniving man. Albus was in for an earful later that evening. Though, he was annoyed with himself more for not realizing the manipulation sooner.

He headed to his potion's lab to get some work done. Anything to keep his mind off of what just occurred and no doubt how his son was about to become someone else's son.

That thought alone made his heart break all over again.

Black may be dense, stupid, arrogant, and a whole list of other things, but he loved Harry. He would be able to provide a good home to him, which was something Severus could not do while he was a spy.

Severus felt his heart break even more at the realization that it was not he who was providing Harry with a home, yet he could have been was it not for the Dark Lord. He also knew that it was mostly his fault as well. He really should not have waited so long to tell Harry the truth.

Just as Severus lit a fire under the cauldron, his Dark Mark burned. He extinguished it, grabbed his robes and mask, and headed out of the castle.

* * *

Harry rubbed his temples. The Diggory's had just left and now he had a headache. The interview had not been easy, especially since he still felt responsible for Cedric's death, despite what everyone kept telling him. His parents had insisted on Harry taking the full sum of the Tri-Wizard money, insisting that Cedric would have wanted him too. After a _lot_ of protesting, he caved.

He was putting it in his robes when Sirius entered the room with a smile. "You ready to go home Harry?"

Home. That world seemed to foreign, yet safe at the same time.

Harry nodded.

The Headmaster wrote something down and handed it to Sirius.

"Have a good summer, Harry. I'm sure I'll see you a few times before it's over."

"You too Professor Dumbledore."

"Ugh. Apparating is uncomfortable," Harry told his godfather.

"At least you didn't get sick. The first time your mother was side apparated, she got sick everywhere."

Harry's eyes widened.

"And besides, when you do it by yourself, it's not so bad."

"You'll be teaching me how, right?"

Sirius nodded. "Now, concentrate and memorize this note. When it's memorized, tell me and I'll destroy it."

Confused, Harry done so. When he looked up, 12 Grimmauld Place was now in front of him where it hadn't been a second ago.

"Wicked."

Sirius just chuckled.

Harry's eyes widened when he opened the door. "Wow, Sirius. This place is huge."

"Three stories. Plus an attic. You are to stay out of the attic by the way. During my cleaning of the house, I put any dark object I found up there. I've not had a chance to go through it yet. Albus said that he was going to help me with it actually."

Harry nodded that he understood.

"Just be quiet around the picture of my mother. We don't want her to wake up."

Harry chuckled. Sirius had mentioned the portrait in one of his previous letters. "Still not found a way to make her be quiet?"

"No. I've tried everything I can think of."

"Have you tried removing the wall with her picture on it?"

"Yeah. You can't. It's part of one of the many spells on the house."

Harry shrugged. "It was an idea."

"Let's go pick out a room for you then I'll give you a tour of the place."

"I get to pick out my own room?" asked Harry.

"You do."

The third floor had the bedrooms. Harry automatically went toward the smallest one.

"Oh no you don't kiddo. The smallest one is off limits."

Five minutes later, Harry had picked out one that he liked.

"Good. Now, while you unpack, I want you to think of what color you want your room to be. I'll change it for you tonight."

Harry grinned as he looked around the room. There was a huge bed, a night stand, a desk with a chair, a window seat like Ron had in his room, a wardrobe, bookshelves, and a door leading off to his own bathroom.

He couldn't believe it.

Harry crossed the room to open the window. When he did, Hedwig flew in. "Just think girl, no more Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia to threaten you."

She hooted.

"Where do you want me to put your perch?"

Harry watched as his owl landed in a spot on the other side of the night stand, near the window.

"Then that's where I'll put it."

Harry had so little stuff that it only took him 20 minutes to put everything away. His trunk he stowed in the bottom of his wardrobe. He left the box the ghost of the Founder's had given him inside of his trunk.

When Sirius walked back in the room, Harry was sitting on his bed.

"Taking a break?"

"I'm done."

Sirius frowned. "Already?"

Harry shrugged. "I didn't have much to begin with."

"Is there anything of yours still at the Dursley's?"

"No." Unfortunately that made Sirius frown even deeper, so Harry changed the topic. "I've decided what color I want my room."

"Red and gold perhaps?"

Harry laughed. "No. Something more calmer than that. Think I could have the walls a light blue and the carpet white?"

"White?"

Harry shrugged. "I think that it will make the room feel more open." After growing up in the cupboard, while he was not claustrophobic, he preferred the open spaces.

Sirius nodded and waved his wand a few times. "Like this?"

Harry nodded eagerly. He then ran over and gave Sirius a hug. "Thank you, Sirius."

"No problem. Let's go give you a tour of your new home."

Home. Harry truly did have a home now.

* * *

"No, my Lord. He has been talking about it but hasn't officially called them together yet."

"And will you be apart of the Order this time around?"

"Yes, my Lord. The Headmaster trusts me."

"Very well. I currently have Lucius going around trying ensure that my presence remains unnoticed for as long as possible. What you have given me on the old fool will help lessen his credibility. Are you staying at the castle during the summer?"

"I normally do, my Lord, but if you wish me to re-open my house, I can do so."

"No ... no. Then you won't have an excuse to roam the castle. Stay at Hogwarts."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Here is a list of potions. I want them as soon as they are ready."

Severus took the list and looked it over. "My Lord, a couple of these take three months to brew."

"_Crucio! _I know that Severus. I suggest you return to the castle to get started as soon as you can."

Severus picked himself up off of the ground and bowed out of the room.

* * *

"Ahh! No!"

"Harry, wake up! It's just a nightmare."

Harry flinched. "I'm sorry Uncle Vernon. It won't happen again."

Sirius' eyes darkened. "Harry, wake up. It's Sirius."

Harry suddenly sat straight up in bed. "Oh no. I woke you up didn't I?"

"It's alright, Harry."

"It's not. You've been so good to me. Giving me my own room and feeding me, I shouldn't wake you up too," he said groggily.

"Nonsense Harry."

"Since I can't do magic, can you cast a silencing charm on me or on the room? You'll never get any sleep otherwise."

"No because then I won't be able to hear you to wake you up."

"Don't know why you'd want to. Silencing charm is better," sighed Harry. However, he was so exhausted, he fell back asleep before Sirius could reply.

Sirius carefully tucked him back in and as he went to leave the room, he saw that Harry's face was scrunched up in another nightmare. He was at a loss because he didn't know how to fix it. Maybe Harry would tell him about the nightmares and he would be able to help him then.

With a last look at his godson, he headed back to his own bed.

* * *

A/N: So I promised you all a chapter on Sunday, but I forgot that it was Easter weekend. As a result, I didn't get to spend a lot of time editing and such. I had family in and they wouldn't hardly leave me alone. This chapter was originally longer, then it was shorter than it is now, then it was longer again. I *could* have put the next section in this one I believe and made it work, but I decided to just leave it where it was. I'm sorry this was so short. I'll try to make up for it in the next one. I'm going to aim for a Thursday/Friday posting.

And before I get lynched, I promise that the truth is going to come out. When you ask? Soonerish (TM) hehe Actually, Dumbles yells at poor Sevvie in the next chapter for procrastinating again.

*flees before the pitch forks can be thrown*


	85. Dreams, Tests, and History Lessons

Disclaimer: Sadly, I still don't own Harry Potter. =/

* * *

Chapter 85

* * *

"Albus, I should be the one providing a home for Harry, not the mutt."

"All you have to do is say the word Severus. You don't have to keep going back to Riddle."

"Then you'll lose any information I'm able to bring you."

"We will, but we'll get by. I hate that you're risking your life, especially now that you have someone else that needs you." Albus just happened to look up at that moment and he saw a flash of insight into Severus' gaze. It was brief, but it was there. He had thought for sure that Severus had conquered _that_ fear. "You're afraid."

"Excuse me?"

"You're afraid to tell Harry the truth. You're afraid that you won't be able to be a good father."

Severus stiffened.

"You're afraid that he'll reject you now that he has his godfather free," Albus continued on relentlessly.

Severus still said nothing, but his posture indicated that the Headmaster had hit the nail on the head - so to speak.

"Severus, look at me." Albus waited until he looked up. "You do not give Harry enough credit. He understands a lot more than most his age and the compassion in him is greater than in any other I've _ever_ met. You need to get over this fear of yours and just tell him the truth. I happen to think that you'll make an excellent father."

"And if I make a mistake?"

"You _are_ human, Severus. Everyone makes mistakes. I'm sure you will make many as a father, and I'm sure that Harry will make just as many as your son, but it's the journey together that will be memorable. You need to tell him."

"He's almost an adult."

"Yet still a child in so many ways. He doesn't have to be a small child to have a father Severus. He could benefit from just being near you. Harry already trusts you. You heard that out of his own mouth."

"And if I destroy that trust when I tell him the truth?"

"Then you slowly rebuild it. Any other arguments I can shoot down? Because I will have a counter for every one of them."

Severus took a drink of his tea to keep from replying.

"Are you going to give Sirius the letter Lily wrote to him?"

Severus sneered. "No. Why should I?"

"Because Harry isn't going to like being made to choose when he learns the truth, and he shouldn't _have_ to choose. Of course, that means that you and Sirius will have to actually sit down and have a conversation without hexing each other."

Severus gave the Headmaster a look that clearly said that was an impossible request.

The floo chose that moment to flare a brighter green, indicating a fire-call.

"Albus, I need you here. Harry's in some kind of trance and neither Remus nor I can break it."

Albus immediately stepped into the fireplace followed by Severus (having been told the address as soon as it was decided that Harry was staying there).

So worried about Harry, Sirius never even noticed as Severus stepped out of the fireplace.

They all entered the kitchen where Remus was trying to wake Harry.

"There's nothing you can do Remus. How long has he been like this?"

"Nearly fifteen minutes. What do you mean? You can't wake him?"

Harry's scar suddenly started bleeding as his arms and legs started twitching, as if he was having a minor seizure.

"Get a pail. The last time his scar bled, he got sick."

"C'mon Harry. Wake up," said Sirius as he knelt at Harry's side.

Snape pushed Black out of the way. "Fight it Potter. Fight it. You're not there."

Sirius had murder in his eyes then and most likely would have followed through with the implied threat had Harry not chose that moment to start coming around.

Harry's vision started clearing. He ached all over. His scar was throbbing something fierce, which probably meant it was bleeding.

Slowly he started hearing the voices around him.

Then he was nauseous. He turned his head and threw up and felt some what better almost immediately.

"Harry, answer me."

"I'm alright Sirius. I need ... I need to talk to Dumbledore."

"I'm here Harry."

Harry looked up and squinted. Then his vision cleared. Remus had put his new glasses (obtained the day before) on his face.

"Thanks Remus."

"What did you see Harry? What happened?"

"Voldemort's upset. Very upset. He believes that there are two traitors in his ranks because of something he told ... something he told to someone named Yaxley to do and the attempt was stopped."

Harry strained his memory.

"I don't remember the other person. He killed someone in anger and tortured another with the Cruciatus for a few minutes. Normally during the day I don't feel the curse that badly but he was seriously angry. Headmaster, you need to warn Professor Snape."

"What about?" asked Albus alarmed. If there was even a possibility that Severus' cover had been blown, the man would not be returning.

"Voldemort's going to do a loyalty test for each of his Death Eaters. Malfoy has been whispering in his ear, telling him that Snape can't be trusted. Malfoy said that he had never seen Snape cast the killing curse so his test might involve that."

"I'll let him know Harry. Don't worry about Professor Snape. That's my job."

"He probably doesn't let you do it very much," said Harry around the pain in his scar. Despite the argument that occurred before Harry left the castle, he didn't want the man hurt.

"No, not really. Now Harry, you said you can feel the Cruciatus curse even when you're awake?"

"Not that badly. It's worse when I'm asleep and get jerked into his mind. When I'm awake, I can fight against it, but he was very angry."

Albus frowned at what that could possibly mean for Harry. "You don't know what it was he wanted done?"

"No. I'm sorry."

"Harry, it's not your job to find out. Now, your scar has stopped bleeding. Go lie down for a while. Judging from the looks Sirius and Remus are giving me, I have some explaining to do."

When Harry stood up, he felt another presence in the house. Curiously he closed his eyes and tried reaching out with his magic like he had read being described in one of Madam Pomphrey's books.

His eyes flung open after about five seconds. "It worked. That's seriously cool."

Albus knew what he had done. He was actually surprised that Harry had not tried it before now. "Who is it?"

Harry smiled weakly. "Guess I told Professor Snape about the warning myself."

"Go rest, Harry."

Harry left the kitchen, nodding at Professor Snape, who was looking at him with an unreadable expression.

When Albus turned from the doorway, it was to see two curiously worried people.

Severus, he saw, had used the floo to leave after he watched Harry head up the stairs.

When Harry got up to his room, he smiled. Gabriella's owl was waiting on him.

"Hey Xander. Hang on and you can take back my reply. Help yourself to Hedwig's water. She won't mind."

* * *

"Rise my faithful. As you have no doubt noticed, Barty Crouch Jr. is no longer within my inner ranks. He was killed for his ineptitude and newfound cowardice. As a result, I have come to the conclusion that you all are going to have to prove yourself to me again.

"If you fail, you will die painfully. I must be clear where _each_ of you stand."

Severus watched with an air of impassivity. Thanks to Potter's warning, he had mentally been preparing for this.

He watched as each inner circle member had their turn. Some were tortured anyway so the Dark Lord could enter their minds to see if any was indeed a traitor.

"Severus ... my dear Severus. You were one of my most faithful before I lost my body. You have done everything that I have ever asked you to do and you have done it well."

"I live to serve only you, my Lord."

"You didn't return to me right away after my rebirth and I was afraid that Dumbledore had won your allegiance but after hours of interrogation with Veritaserum, my fears were unfounded."

Beside of him, Severus felt Lucius stiffen.

"Oh yes, Lucius. Severus is still mine, not that fool of an old man's, but _no one_ is above the test I have devised for them. Is it true Severus, that you have never cast the killing curse?"

"It is indeed true, my Lord."

"Why is this?"

"Others' have preferred to do so, so I obliged," Severus said indifferently.

The Dark Lord circled Snape. "I did bring you in for your potions' expertise above everything else."

Severus could _feel_ the indignation coming from Lucius.

"Bring her in," snarled Voldemort. "I can't put you above everyone else in this. I know that you know how to torture. I have seen that with my own eyes. I've seen you torture someone to near death with potions and without. I've seen your potions kill. Now I need to make sure that _you_ can. Use the killing curse. Kill the muggle."

When Voldemort stepped out of his way, Severus saw the woman he was to kill.

It took every ounce of his willpower not to react outwardly to the woman thrown at his feet. This was no doubt Lucius' doing.

The muggle woman looked up, begging to be let go, that she had kids who needed her. All Severus saw, however, were her bright green eyes and striking red hair.

* * *

"What's wrong Harry?" asked Remus as Harry walked into the kitchen for dinner a few days later.

"Nothing," he mumbled. The sight of the food made him feel sick.

"Harry?" asked Sirius as took some rice off of the stove.

Harry sighed. "Gabby sent me a letter breaking up with me."

"I'm sorry Harry," said Sirius as he put the food on the table. "I know how much you liked her."

"Her mom was worried about the danger she was in by being my girlfriend, especially since her father is a Death Eater and Voldemort is back. I tried breaking up with her before she left, to protect her and she told me no." Harry took a drink of his pumpkin juice. "It hurts more than I thought it would."

Sirius put his arm around Harry's shoulder and pulled him into a brief hug. "Sometimes the things that hurt the most are the best in the long run."

"I know. She's safer away from me. Everyone is," whispered Harry.

Sirius went on talking as if he didn't hear what Harry had said but judging from the look of disapproval coming from Remus, he did.

"Besides, you're too young to be in any serious relationship. You need to play the field some. See what's out there."

"I think I'm finished dating for a while. No need to put anyone else in any needless danger. I just hope that Voldemort leaves Gabriella alone."

"C'mon kiddo. Let's eat. Afterwards we can work on that Wizarding puzzle again."

"I'm not hungry. I think I'm going to go back to my room."

Sirius and Remus watched him walk back up the stairs.

* * *

_July 20__th__, 1995_

_My homework is finally done. Side effect of not sleeping a lot. I've woken Sirius up nearly every night since I've came here. Meditation helps some. I've managed a good solid five hours each night, unless Voldemort is angry over something._

_I've been reading those books that R. let me borrow, or rather I've been trying. It's written in Latin. I know enough now to not have to look up every word that I come across, but I do still have to look things up. It's hindering me._

_Dumbledore is moving the order meetings here. He told Sirius that the castle can't be used anymore because the new minister was getting nosey. Naturally I won't be able to know anything, at least until I learn occlumency._

_Sirius told me that I can invite Ron, Hermione, and Neville over for a small party on my birthday. I sent out invitations with Hedwig yesterday._

_I hear Sirius waking up. Time to meditate some._

_Harry_

Harry always felt better after he practiced his calming exercises, which is what he was doing when Sirius knocked on his door.

"You awake?"

"Yeah. Finally finished my homework."

"Need me to look over it?"

"Nah. McGonagall assigned us a nasty Transfiguration essay and drawing. It was hard but I think I got it right."

"Transfiguration was my best subject in school so if you want me to look it over, I will."

"Really? I might have you do that later then."

Sirius smiled. "How are those occlumency books you're reading?"

Harry set the table for two for breakfast. "Hard to read. Why does everyone have to write in Latin?"

"Latin should be easy for a smart kid like you."

Harry made a face. "It's not. During my first year at Hogwarts I ordered a Latin dictionary when I started noticing that some of the spells were written with it."

Sirius frowned. "Didn't you do well in your muggle Latin class?"

Harry gave a humorless laugh. "I wasn't allowed to take it."

"What?" demanded Sirius. "It's an agreement our Minister has with the muggle prime minister. Latin is to be taught in their primary schools."

"The muggle prime minister knows about wizards and witches?" asked Harry surprised.

Sirius nodded.

Harry sighed. "Latin was taught at the school I went to but I wasn't allowed to take it."

"Why not?"

"Because of Dudley and my Aunt. If I done better than Dudley in anything, I got in trouble. Dudley was more horrible at Latin than his other classes, mostly because he was too busy bullying people to do his homework."

Sirius frowned. "How was your Aunt involved?"

"She told the school that I needed to be put in "special classes" because I was too dumb to take Latin. I guess she remembered mom needing it for her studies."

"Oh Harry. We need to get you caught up. I don't know how you've managed to survive 4 years without knowing Latin already."

"I can read some of it now with what I've taught myself."

"Have you tried a translation charm?"

"There are translation charms?"

Sirius chuckled. "There are. If you look in the library, you'll find a couple of books on them."

"That's awesome. Of course, it doesn't matter during the summer. I can't do magic."

"You can do minor things. With you living here, the ministry will just think it's me casting the spell."

"I'd rather not risk it. I've already gotten a warning for something I didn't do."

Sirius put breakfast on the table.

"Where's Remus?"

"He said that he'd be by tomorrow. He needed to make sure his friend is doing alright teaching the children."

"I can't believe they have school during the summer."

"Harry, Wizarding children only have lessons about two to three hours a day. By lunchtime, most of them are done."

Harry's eyes widened as big as saucers.

"That's one of the advantages muggle born children have when they go to Hogwarts over those raised in the Wizarding world. You all have the discipline to stay awake and focused more than the Wizarding children do because you are used to it from the muggle school system."

"No wonder Ron complained for two months that classes were torture. I thought he meant the classes themselves."

"No. He meant having them all day."

Harry ate his breakfast in silence, mulling over what he had just learned.

* * *

"I don't understand how he's functioning Remus," Sirius said as he downed his third cup of coffee that morning. "Ever since the summer has started, with the exception of two nights, he's had nightmares or those visions Albus described to us. He can't be getting more than four hours of sleep each night, and none of that can be very restful, nor good for him."

"Has he told you what his nightmares consist of?" asked Remus as he fixed himself a cup of tea.

"The past and the death's he's responsible for."

Remus looked up.

"I've told him that he's not responsible for anyone's death, but he doesn't believe me. However, he had a nightmare the other night where he screamed out against his uncle. I questioned him about it when he was awake and he changed the topic."

"I'd like to see the Dursley's hanged for what I suspect Harry's been through," said Remus quietly, "but we both know that Harry won't allow it."

Sirius scowled as he got up for his fourth cup of coffee. "If I knew I could get away with it, he wouldn't have a choice in the matter, but the last thing I want is for him to be angry at me."

"Where is he? I don't hear him upstairs."

"He was in the library last time I saw him. He found a book on secrecy charms and hasn't pulled his nose from it since then. Were you going out with us today?"

Remus shook his head. "I'm still tired from the full moon. Who are you using for the polyjuice?"

"A random muggle teenager. Tonks is coming along with us for extra protection as well. Even though we'll be out on the muggle side, you never can be too careful."

Remus nodded. "You two have fun. You both deserve it."

Sirius just grinned as he headed back to the coffee pot for his 5th cup, which made Remus just shake his head at the man.

* * *

A/N: I wanna thank everyone for the reviews - including those w/ the constructive criticism in them. I try to learn from every review I get. Hopefully it'll show as the story goes along that I am trying to improve my writing. =)

As for this past chapter - it's not as long as I thought it was going to be, but it seemed like a good place to stop. I hope Harry's little history lesson was liked. I toyed around with it for a bit. I know it's not much, but between getting chased by a meglomanic bent on world domination, and every thing else in his life, I just imagined that it was something that he would have never really taken the time to learn. It's not exactly like that type of conversation would come up casually between him and Ron. Him and Hermione I could maybe see ... but not Ron.

Harry's vision's probably seem worse while he's at Grimmauld Place - and there is a reason for that. However, this won't be noticed by anyone until later on (like much much later). I wrote them that way for a reason. There is also a reason he can feel the cruciatus curse when Lordy Moldy Pants casts it too. That also will not be explained until later on. (I imagine most of you will figure it out long before then .. but shhhh *hunts for the duct tape*.)

And no, that's not the last we'll be seeing/hearing of Gabriella. Though, I do have to say she was a lot better liked that I figured she would have been. (I know most people don't like original character's - especially when paired w/ the main character for 6 months.) I realize it was a rather boring way to be dumped, but it had to be done. It was one thing for them to date when He-Who-Has-A-Huge-Hyphenated-Name-And-Cannot-Die was not around ... it's something quite different for them to date now that's he's back, especially with her dad being a favored Death Eater. You never know ... maybe once school's back in session, they'll get back together. ;-) *grins mischievously*

And poor Severus. So. What do you think? Did he kill the muggle woman? Did he choose to save her and blow his cover? Did he manage to find some other way around it?

And yes, Voldemort is paranoid. Wouldn't you be if you were a spirit for 13 years when some of your most faithful servants had never even attempted to search for you? He needs to ferret out the traitor's early as he adds to his ranks before he can begin to wreck total havoc. *polishes the devil horns*

Up next, Harry's birthday, plus some of how Harry was treated as he grew up comes out. I might include more than his birthday. I'm not sure yet. I need to plunder through the chapter a couple of times and see how it flows. I'm going to aim for a Monday/Tuesday posting. It will most likely be out on Tuesday. I have a bunch of errands to do on Monday.


	86. Birthday's and Frustrations

Disclaimer: Only in my dreams do I owe HP ... and even then I'm not totally sure. hehe

* * *

Chapter 86

* * *

"Here Albus. Deliver this to Potter."

Albus looked at Severus. "I'll hand it to him but you're going to his party."

"You're off your rocker. Black doesn't want me anywhere near the boy and I have potions to brew for the Dark Lord."

Knowing that he was just using the potions as an excuse, Albus glared at him. "Severus, for nearly two weeks now you've been depressed and angry ... and I know why that is. I am sorry that you had to kill that woman but you cannot focus on those feelings. That woman was _not_ Lily."

"It may as well have been Lily. I did, after all, kill her as well."

"You did no such thing. Voldemort killed Lily."

"I told him about the prophecy, which led to her death!"

"And if you didn't, then Lucius Malfoy would have. You said he had been with you in the hallway after all. You're going with me. Seeing Harry will do you a world of good."

"Oh yes. Seeing my son, who doesn't know he's my son, will do _wonder's_ for my mood," he snarled.

"C'mon Severus. While Harry is up with his friends, we'll be having an order meeting."

"Then I'll come later for that."

"Severus, you're going with me. Now. Let's go," said Albus in a tone that left no room for argument.

Severus sneered at the Headmaster but stepped into the fireplace anyway.

* * *

"Sirius, you didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"Nonsense. It wasn't any trouble at all."

Harry turned to Remus who was standing in a corner. "He says that now until he has to clean up later."

Remus laughed.

Suddenly the door bell rang. Harry ran to answer it. He smiled at all of the red heads trying to fit on the top three steps (where the Fidelius extended to). "Come in," said Harry grinning.

"Happy Birthday Harry," said Mrs. Weasley. "My, my! You've grown a foot since I've last seen you."

Harry turned red. It was true. Being fed every day had let him _finally_ grow some. He then looked up at Ron. "Seems I'm not the only one. Hey Ron."

"Hey mate!"

"Dining rooms straight through. That's where everyone is," called out Harry above the noise.

"Uh, Harry, why is this portrait silently yelling at us?" asked George.

"Because she has a _really_ strong silencing spell on her. Trust me. You don't want to hear what she's saying." Dumbledore had managed to silence her a couple of days prior when she had started yelling obscenities at him for no reason at all. Ever since he had done that, the house had become much more comfortable.

"Happy Birthday Harry."

"Thanks, Ginny."

As they all walked in the dining room, Ron asked, "When's Hermione getting here?"

"Her and her parents have a port key. It should be activating at 1pm."

"Is Neville coming?"

"No. His Uncle Algie is taking him somewhere for his birthday."

The floo activated and Harry went to see who it was.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore."

"Happy Birthday, my boy."

Harry then saw an invisible Snape step out of the fireplace. His eyes widened.

"Happy Birthday Potter."

"Thank you sir."

"Don't let Sirius know he's here. I'm sure you don't want any fighting on your birthday."

"Good point," Harry said chuckling.

As they were walking in the dining room, they heard a whoosh! Harry turned around to see Hermione land gracefully. 'I really need to learn to do that,' he thought.

"Hey Hermione. Where's your parents?"

"They had a dental emergency in their office so they had to go in today. They both say Happy Birthday though."

Harry smiled.

"I hear the Weasley's."

"Yep. Be careful. Fred and George can legally do magic now."

"Thanks for the warning."

By 2pm the party was in full swing. Harry, at least for a little while, forgot all about Voldemort and the threats going on in the outside world.

For the moment, he was just like any other 15-year-old boy.

There had been a funny moment when Sirius had almost sat down on an invisible Snape. Dumbledore had managed to stop him, but it had been a near miss. He could only imagine what kind of chaos that would have ended up causing. After that though, Snape had moved to a corner where he wouldn't be trampled.

Around 5pm, Harry sat down to open his presents.

"This is from Alastor and Tonks," said Sirius as he handed it over.

Harry had met Tonks at a prior order meeting. He had not met any of the other order member's in case Voldemort got inside of his head, but he had heard such a loud crash one day that he ran down the steps to see what happened. He had found her on the ground tangled around a coat rack and umbrella stand. At first, Harry thought she had dyed her hair pink, but then it changed to blue right in front of him. He had been so surprised that he nearly fell down the remaining three steps. She had then explained that she was a metamorphmagus. Ever since then he had kept plying her with questions about what she could do with her ability.

"Where are they?" asked Harry. "They said that they would be here."

"Auror business," said the Headmaster.

Harry nodded and pulled off the wrapping. "It's a book on surveillance and a book on auror training."

"The surveillance book must be from Moody," commented Remus.

Harry nodded. "He told me that he was going to get it. I thought he had forgotten."

Sirius then handed over another present. He was eventually surrounded by clothes, food, more books, pranks (from the twins, much to their mother's disapproval), and a new book bag (his had become frayed).

"This one doesn't have any name on it," said Sirius frowning.

Harry's eyes immediately went to where an invisible Snape stood. "I know who it's from."

"Are you sure, Harry?" asked Sirius warily.

"Yep." Harry tore the package open. In it was a new trunk. Remus enlarged it for him while he looked over the paper that had been on top of it. The features listed were incredible. It must have cost a small fortune.

"Professor, I don't deserve something like this," he whispered.

"Nonsense my boy. Of course you do," answered Dumbledore. The room seemed to relax when the Headmaster claimed credit for the package.

Harry let his eyes drift slightly to the right of the Headmaster and said, "thank you." It was strange of Snape to give him these sudden influxes of gifts, especially considering he had yelled at the man a month prior.

The Headmaster nodded, keeping with the ruse.

"Can I have your old trunk, mate?" asked Ron.

"Ronald!" scolded Mrs. Weasley and Hermione at the same time.

Harry chuckled. "Yep. Before you leave I'll reset the alarms and you can take it with you."

"Awesome."

By 7pm, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had meandered their way up to Harry's room. Ginny and the twins had gone home with Mr. Weasley about a half hour prior.

"You seem happy Harry," said Hermione.

"I am. I have a room of my own, food every day, and I'm not at the Dursley's. I couldn't be happier."

"Cheap of them to have an order meeting on your birthday though."

"I knew it was going to happen. My birthday is a good cover for one if you think about it."

Harry went to his wardrobe and pulled out his old trunk. He sat in the floor and started cleaning it out. He waited until neither Ron nor Hermione were looking to pull the black and silver box out and store it in the bottom of the closet. He then threw a shirt on top of it.

"I'm sure Sirius can charm these letters to read RW instead of HP."

Ron nodded. "What goes on in the order meetings?"

"No idea."

"You're not told?" asked Ron.

"I can't know anything until I learn occlumency. My scar is linked with Voldemort. Until I can block him out, once he discovers this, he could learn everything I know."

"Oh."

Harry had already explained this to both of them once. Evidently Ron didn't remember.

* * *

The order meeting had finished and most everyone had left when Sirius, Remus, Albus, Severus, Molly, and Moody heard raised voices coming from up the stairs.

They sounded like they were coming from the library.

It was Harry and he was yelling.

"Is that what you think Hermione? That all adults _really_ have my best interests at heart?"

Those downstairs couldn't hear what was said but heard Harry's next reply.

"Do you really believe that? That all adults are trustworthy?"

Another pause.

"Well it's never worked out so wonderful for me. When I was in preschool, I was punished by the Dursley's because I let their dinner burn. I didn't get fed for a week. By the end of that week, I was so hungry that a sandwich _magically_ appeared in front of me. I ate it as soon as I could but the person it had came from called me a thief. I told my teacher that I didn't know where it came from, that I ate it because I was hungry. I was taken to the school nurse where I told her that I hadn't ate all week."

Silence was heard where the adults downstairs assumed Ron or Hermione said something.

A humorless laugh came from Harry. "The school nurse and my aunt were friends. I got punished again with a belt and another week without food."

"You're right Hermione. It was horrible. Then of course there was my 2nd grade teacher. She was a nice lady that took interest in the fact that I had bruises on me that I couldn't properly explain. She went to the principal. The next day we had a new teacher. Turned out the principal's brother worked for my uncle. I got punished again. After that I learned to use my freakishness to hide my bruises."

His voice then lowered, making the adults in the room strain to hear any more of the conversation, but they needn't have tried, because Harry's voice drifted back down the stairs. "Oh yeah. Once I entered the Wizarding world it helped some. I believe they do what they think is best for me, and I can't fault them for that, but sometimes what they think is best for me is not what's _actually_ best for me."

Another pause, where Ron and Hermione had replied so quietly that they couldn't be heard.

"Because the adults don't trust me or believe me!"

Downstairs, everyone was horror-struck but it seemed that Harry wasn't done. Whatever had gotten this conversation started certainly got him riled up.

"Right. Just like McGonagall believed all three of us when we told her someone was going after the Sorcerer's Stone? If we wouldn't have gone after it, Voldemort would have come back sooner.

"Then, of course, there's the fact that Ron and I told Lockhart about the Chamber of Secrets. Granted he was a fraud that tried to _'Obliviate'_ us, but we still told him that we knew how to rescue Ginny.

"And our third year, Hermione. You and I told Fudge that Sirius was innocent. He didn't believe us."

The adults downstairs all looked at each other. Moody had gotten up to open the door wider so that the voices would be clearer.

"Last year? I love Sirius to death but even he wrote me off last year."

Downstairs Sirius paled.

"Hermione, I told him all last year that Moody gave me the creeps, that he felt wrong to me. I was ignored because I'm only a kid. After all, what could I possibly know?"

About five seconds of silence passed.

"NO! I don't blame Sirius. The imposter fooled even Dumbledore!"

It was Dumbledore's turn to blanche. Alastor also sent a glare his way. (He was still peeved that the imposter went for so long undiscovered.)

"Harry, calm down. You're making things vibrate. It's not Hermione's fault that you had a crappy childhood. She was just trying to ..."

Ron's voice died down. Then there was silence. All of the adults down stairs just looked at each other.

"I'll kill them Albus," snarled Sirius. "How could they starve and beat Harry?"

"Oh that poor boy," said Molly. She made to leave the dining room.

"No," said Severus, stopping her. "I doubt Potter realized his voice carried down to us. He does not need coddling, nor, do I suspect, does he want coddling."

"Nonsense Severus."

"Molly, no. Severus is right. Harry will be horrified to realize we heard his argument. He is obviously all right now and judging by his growth spurt, being fed every day."

"But Albus ..."

"They're right," spoke up Sirius. "Harry will be upset that we over heard him, but he will _never_ go back to that life again. And he's also right in that we've all failed him. We need to start listening to him more. Mooney told me once that he has good instincts. Perhaps we should listen when they kick in."

Severus was in a corner. He had been quiet during the entire tirade, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. Albus would have to watch him to make sure that he didn't hunt the Dursley's down to kill them himself. Hopefully, the man realized that doing so would only alienate Harry.

They continued talking for a few more minutes. Suddenly they heard laughing.

"Can we come through?" called out Harry.

"Yeah," called Sirius.

The three entered the dining room and headed to the kitchen. "We're hungry again."

"Ron's hungry again," corrected Hermione.

"I want more cake too," said Harry.

"Honestly you two. I'm surprised you don't each weigh 500 pounds."

Albus watched bemusedly as they laughed their way into the kitchen.

"They sure made up fast," grunted Moody.

"Harry knows how fast things can change," said Remus.

And to that, they all sadly agreed.

* * *

A few days after his birthday found Harry looking for an adult in the house. He came across Remus first. "Remus, I need your help with an experiment."

"Oh?" Remus put down his tea. "What kind of experiment?"

"I have a book that will appear blank to you but I need you to cast the Latin to English translating charm on it for me."

"Why?"

"Because I need to learn occlumency and it's getting frustrating because I have four books to read but I'm only half way through the first one. Stopping to look up words and trying to make it work in the context sucks."

Remus chuckled lightly. "Bring me the book and I'll cast it for you, though something minor like this you could probably get away with casting it yourself."

Harry snickered. "I see Sirius has been rubbing off on you. I don't want to take any chances. I'll be right back."

A few minutes later Harry put the book in front of Remus.

"Harry, why can't I touch it?" he asked curiously.

"Part of the protective spells on it."

Remus frowned. "Where did you get these books again?"

"Hogwarts."

Shaking his head, Remus cast the translation charm on the book.

Harry picked it up and flipped through it. "Awesome. Thanks Remus!"

As he reached the 3rd floor to go back to his room, he heard the floo activate and the doorbell ring at the same time. 'Must be another order meeting,' he thought.

He then went into his room to read the book - now that he could.

As he was reading, he felt sleepy. He laid back in the bed and landed right in a vision.

* * *

"Excellent. There weren't any witnesses, were there?"

"No, my Lord."

"Rise. You have done your task well. I will reward you with whatever you wish to have. Tell Wormtail and by tomorrow it will be yours."

"Thank you, my Lord. You are most gracious."

Voldemort watched the Death Eater leave. "Wormtail! Get in here!"

"Coming master!"

"I am in a good mood. Things are finally going my way. Has Lucius come back with his report yet?"

"No, my Lord."

"Severus?"

"No, my Lord."

"Nott?"

"He arrived right before you summoned me."

"Send him in." Voldemort sent a hex toward Wormtail to make him go faster.

* * *

Harry was then able to pull himself from the vision. He sat up in bed and wished he didn't. The world started spinning, but he needed to get to Sirius.

"Sirius," he called weakly.

"Sirius!" he tried again. He felt horrible. "Hedwig, go get Sirius."

A minute later Harry heard footsteps come up the stairs but there wasn't much he could do. As soon as the door opened further to let more light in, Harry started throwing up.

Sirius was across the room in half a second. "Are you all right Harry?"

"I am now."

Sirius conjured a glass of water. "Drink this." After Harry had done so, he asked, "Was it another vision?"

Harry nodded. "Someone's dead and it pleases Voldemort a lot. The Death Eater that did it said he left behind no witnesses."

Sirius sighed. "It was Minister Overwhelm. He was assassinated an hour ago."

"What?"

Sirius nodded with a grimace. "Harry, I want you to practice your meditation. Calm yourself down some."

"Can you stay with me for a few minutes?"

"I can stay for as long as you need me to."

Harry closed his eyes and began meditating. Neither noticed Snape observing the scene from the doorway - nor the hurt expression on his face, knowing that he could not offer his own son the comfort he needed.

* * *

"Albus, Miss Nott was interrogated by the Dark Lord this morning."

"Is she all right?"

"She is. Her status as Nott's daughter protected her. She did tell him that Potter valued family above everything else though."

"I'll warn Sirius to stay on guard more so than normal. Has he mentioned anything about the prophecy?"

"He's curious about the wording but as far as I can tell, he's not focusing on it. He's more concerned with building up his ranks for the moment."

Albus nodded.

"How is Potter coming with occlumency?"

"Remus told me that he's cast some translation charms on some very curious books that Harry claims deal with occlumency."

"What's in them?"

"He has no idea. He can't touch them and when he looked at them, they're blank."

"Where did Harry get them?"

"He claims Hogwarts."

Severus frowned. "It's hard to tell what the boy has found. If he really doesn't sleep much, he probably roams the castle at night trying to see what he can get into."

"He'll have to be careful if he does that this year. The new minister has decided to interfere with Hogwarts. They've assigned Dolores Umbridge as the new defense teacher."

"She is one of the people saying that the Dark Lord is not back?"

"She is. She is also against anyone that is not a pure blood."

"Can you just kill me now?"

"Nonsense Severus. You'll be fine. And besides, I'll need someone to keep _me_ from hexing her."

Severus smirked.

* * *

About two weeks before school was supposed to start found Harry waking up feeling refreshed. He glanced at the clock and startled.

Seven A.M..

Did he sleep through the night?

The entire night?

Harry checked himself over. He felt wonderful. He had spent the better part of the past three weeks working on his occlumency shields. If he had to describe it, it was like ordering his memories in a filing cabinet and then putting a shield of fire around each cabinet.

That's how he liked to think of it anyway.

Last night, Harry had purposefully erected a shield around all of his memories and his mind the way the books had described.

And now he felt good.

He felt better than good.

He felt great.

After grabbing his things, he headed toward the shower.

"You're in a good mood," commented Sirius at breakfast.

"I slept through night. I bet I got nine hours of sleep."

"You slept the entire night?" asked Sirius with some disbelief in his voice.

"I did. It's a nice change," he said ruefully. "Hopefully I can keep it up."

"I hope so too," admitted Sirius. "Book lists are supposed to be delivered today. When they come, we'll go into Diagon Alley. Remus, Moody, and Tonks are going to be going with us."

Harry nodded. "Am I being polyjuiced again?"

"Yeah."

After breakfast, he went upstairs to see what he needed supply wise.

At 10am, an owl landed on his bed where he was reading. He relieved it of its burden.

Harry scanned the list. He marked the divination books off. Ron had indeed been upset that Harry couldn't take the class anymore, but it had honestly been a relief for him.

He put the list in his pocket and grabbed his coin bag to refill at Gringotts. After making sure he had his wand, he headed back down the stairs.

"Well?"

"I got my list. I'm ready when you all are," said Harry to a room full of people.

"Anything you want to tell us?" asked Sirius.

Harry frowned. "Not really."

Now it was Sirius' turn to frown. "Your booklist didn't contain anything extra?"

"No. Should it have?"

The floo then flared in a way that indicated it was just a floo call and not someone coming through.

"Harry!"

Harry gave a funny look to the adults in the room before going to see what Ron wanted.

"Harry!"

"I'm right here, Ron."

"I don't believe it. I got made a prefect!"

Harry's eyes widened. He was suddenly unsure how to feel. Sirius' conversation made sense now. He had thought Harry would get made a prefect.

"... and mom's going to get me a new Clean-Sweep broom!"

"That's great, Ron."

"When are you going to Diagon Alley?"

"In a few minutes."

"We can't go until Wednesday."

"I have to go. Everyone is waiting on me. Congrats again Ron."

Harry watched Ron's grinning head back out of the fireplace.

He then backed up and sat down in a chair.

He had forgotten about prefects being picked in the 5th year. If he had remembered, did he assume he would be one of them?

Yeah, he guessed he did. But it was wrong to assume that. Sure, he had done a lot in his years at Hogwarts but he had also gotten into a lot of trouble.

Honestly, he didn't really have anything more than Ron did, other than his power level. And he hated the attention and being a prefect would just garner more attention.

He was a horrible friend to not be happy for Ron.

Harry took a deep breath. He _would_ be happy for Ron. Otherwise, he was no better than Malfoy - who expected everything to just be handed to him.

Harry composed himself and re-entered the dining room.

"What did Ron want?" asked Remus.

"To tell me he got made a prefect."

"What?" asked Sirius as his head snapped up.

Harry chuckled. "I get too much detention for me to make prefect. Ron said his mom is going to get him a new clean-sweep broom for getting it."

"Ready to go?" gruffed Moody.

"Yep."

"Then let's go," he said as he handed over a vial of poly-juice potion.

* * *

"I don't like it Albus! I walked in the library after the order meeting the other night to find them having a conversation! Together!"

Albus shook his head. "Honestly Sirius. I've told you over and over again that Severus is on our side."

"It's not even that. It has more to do with the fact that they were talking - as if it was a normal thing to do!"

Albus put his head in his hands. "What were they talking about?"

"Potions. I mean, they weren't even pranking potions, they were talking seriously about some kind of potion that Snape had assigned as summer homework. I want you to tell Snape to stay away from Harry."

"I will do no such thing."

"Why not? Is it because he and Lily dated? Do you want him to form some kind of attachment to Harry - to protect him? Because I won't allow any type of attachment to form. I can protect Harry perfectly fine. Besides, I didn't like Snape when we were younger and I certainly don't like him any more now."

"You're letting your emotions cloud your judgement Sirius. Did it ever occur to you that Harry might take offense to you telling him who he can and can't talk to?"

"Harry will never find out."

Albus wondered if someone would just hex him to put him out of his misery. He and Sirius had been arguing for about 30 minutes on the same subject.

"Sirius, sit down. I want you to listen to me very carefully."

"No Headmaster," said Snape as he opened the door to his office. "I appreciate you speaking on my behalf, but that's not necessary."

'Marvelous,' thought the Headmaster. 'By the time these two get done arguing, I'm going to need new furniture.'

Twenty minutes later, Sirius stormed out of the office via the floo network and Severus via the door. He, however, was left staring at a smoldering chair in the corner of the room and a broken window straight across from it. He sighed. Some days it just didn't pay to get out of bed.

* * *

A/N: I am soooooo sorry about being late with this post, but my 88 year old grandfather has gotten into "spring cleaning" mode, meaning he points to something and I clean it. Normally I'm so tired that I pass out face first in the pillow and don't move again until the next morning only to do it all over again. I hurt in muscles that I had forgotten even existed. lol

Anyway, I'm sure judging by this chapter you all prolly think I hate Sirius, but I don't. He was actually one of my favorite character's from the book. It's just, I think he needs to grow up just a tad bit more. He's slowly doing so, but seems to be fighting against it at the same time. *ruffles Padfoot's hair* ;)

*Backs away from jade slowly* I promise that it is coming up ... soon. *puts trees in front of me*

Witchsbroom - In the chapter ... or the one after ... waaaayyy back when Snape first learned the truth, Lily had written a letter to Sirius and placed it in the photo album. He never destroyed it, even though at the time, he thought Sirius was the secret keeper and betrayed everyone. The letter is supposed to tell Sirius the truth w/o him ... hopefully .. killing Snape.

As you can see, more of Harry's past was revealed. I toyed with how to do that conversation for forever, before I finally got it to where it somewhat made sense. I also had Ron keep the prefect badge. I had thought about giving it to Harry, but I have one scene in his 5th year that wouldn't work if he was a prefect, so the badge went to Ron ... plus, Harry really does hate all that attention. hehe

I'd plunder through and see if I could pre-answer some of your questions that might come up, but I'm *really really* sleepy. I should have been in bed two hours ago.

Up next, I fix one of my biggest pet peeves with book 5 - plus the rest of the summer and the return to school. Since I am still spring cleaning, I am going to give myself the deadline of next Friday to have the next chapter up ... but I've only got 1 more room to go through. Once I get it finished, I'll have more time to write and edit, which means that you'll have it before Friday. (I hope.) hehe

Thank you all for the reviews everyone.

And Happy Belated Birthday Bookworm!

*Locks self in steel cage to keep away from chainsaws and pitchforks and bonfires*


	87. Tests and the Return to School

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter ... or much else for that matter! hehe

* * *

Chapter 87

* * *

Harry looked around excitedly. He had never seen the ministry before.

"Keep close Harry and keep your head down," whispered Dumbledore.

"Yes, sir." Harry put his head back down and looked at the ground, though he still couldn't keep from taking small peeks out of the corner of his eyes.

After they made their way down the elevator and through a bunch of doors, they came to a gigantic room filled with little spheres.

"Are all these prophecies?"

"They are. Some are fulfilled as soon as they are spoken, some never get fulfilled."

"How can a prophecy not get fulfilled?" asked Harry curiously.

"There are many reasons. The person dies early, the moons are out of alignment, or the exact circumstances are not met."

Eventually they came to row ninety-seven. "Don't touch any of them. They have special enchantments on them."

Harry nodded. While Dumbledore glanced through the shelves without touching the spheres himself, Harry watched as an orb appeared out of nowhere, filled with black smoke, then turned clear.

"What was that?"

"That would be a prophecy being made and fulfilled at the same time. It turns clear to match the others on the shelves that way they cannot be distinguished from one another."

"Why?"

"Because the Unspeakables, the people who guard the Department of Mysteries, are powerful in their own right. The knowledge of unfulfilled prophecies can grant them even more power. With the spheres looking all alike, it's hard for them to know which is which without actually taking the time to examine them. Think of it as magic's way of keeping things in balance."

That made surprising sense to Harry, who nodded.

Eventually Dumbledore pointed one out. "Here it is. I want you to pick it up and put it in this box. Then place this one back."

Harry did so.

"Let's leave. We'll talk once we get back to your house."

Twenty minutes later, Harry was seated across from the Headmaster in the kitchen.

"When can I hear what it says?"

"After I know for sure your occlumency shields are strong. Really strong."

"You won't back out of telling me will you?"

"No Harry. I still feel that you are too young to know it but you deserve the truth."

"I replaced it with a fake one?"

Albus nodded. "If Voldemort goes after it, he'll hear no more than he did before."

Harry nodded.

"How are your occlumency shields, do you think?"

"Alright. I've been able to get more sleep and I do feel better."

"I'll come by and test them before school starts. Sirius told me that you can apparate now."

"Yeah. My landing tends to be a bit off but I've only splinched myself once - and believe me when I say once was enough."

The Headmaster chuckled.

Harry looked around to make sure Sirius wasn't nearby. He then leaned over and whispered, "Sir, why did Professor Snape give me a birthday present - and such an expensive one at that?"

"Because he wanted to Harry."

"He confuses me. For the first couple of years it seemed like he hated me and then he started to lighten up. While I'm glad he did, I don't know why he did. And now he's given me a Christmas present and then this birthday present. Does he feel responsible for me because him and mom used to date?"

Harry still didn't realize the photo album was from Severus, Albus realized. "Harry, he has his rea -"

"Oh! Albus. I thought you left already," said Sirius as he entered the kitchen.

"I am about to. Keep practicing Harry. I'll see you two later."

"C'mon Harry. The chess board is all set up."

"I'm hopeless at chess, Sirius."

"Nonsense. We'll even use your pieces."

Harry laughed. "It won't help much. You'll see."

* * *

"Ready Potter?" gruffed Moody.

"Yeah. Why am I apparating up and down stairs rapidly again?"

"Did you not read the book Tonks got you for your birthday?"

"The auror training book? Yeah." He frowned, trying to remember. "There was a chapter that explained how auror's follow apparition trails to catch people."

"It's not just Auror's Potter. Death Eater's can do the same. But if you apparate to the same spots again then re-apparate away, it becomes harder to trace."

"But Moody, I'm not on the run from you at the moment."

"No, but whose to say you won't be chased tomorrow. I'm sure that you don't want to be caught after only two apparitions because you were tired."

Harry sighed. The man was paranoid, but he had a point. He definitely liked the real Moody over the false one.

He closed his eyes and focused on his bedroom where Tonks and Remus were waiting in case he splinched himself.

By the 6th apparition, he was starting to get tired. The next time he returned downstairs where Moody was, he had a surprise waiting on him in the form of a stunning curse.

Harry ducked as it whizzed by his head and apparated back upstairs. If he thought he was going to catch his breath, he was mistaken. Remus also sent a stunner at him. He barely dodged it and focused on the library, thinking he'd be able to catch his breath there.

Except Sirius was waiting on him.

Harry dropped to the floor and rolled behind the couch. "You've got to be kidding me," he muttered. This was entirely not fair. He couldn't use magic to defend himself.

Sirius sent another spell over the couch so he quickly apparated down to Moody in the dining room.

Odd. The room was empty so he leaned against a chair to rest momentarily.

The air around him then changed. He didn't see any magical signatures but he knew he wasn't alone anymore. He immediately apparated to the guest bedroom.

There, his mind was invaded harshly.

Harry pulled up his shields and pushed back.

He saw the memory of Cedric lying dead on the ground. "No," he said. Harry forced the memory away. A second later he apparated away.

He landed on top of a chair in front of the floo.

A stunner went past his ear. 'How are they hearing me?' he wondered as he ducked. Then he knew. The more tired he was, the louder his apparition became.

Harry pulled in what strength he could and he apparated into Sirius' bedroom.

There, his mind was assaulted again. Memory after memory flew by. Harry forced them away. He opened his eyes and tried to focus on his surroundings but he could see no one ... but the magic felt familiar.

Dudley was kicking Harry in the rose bushes while his aunt and uncle looked on impassively. "No," grunted Harry. He shoved the memory away. He was then stabbing the basilisk. "I said no." Harry pushed it away and then shoved against the shield of fire around his mind. A second later his mind was vacated.

He had pushed whoever it was out.

And now he was exhausted.

He dove behind the bed. There he apparated back down to the dining room. To his surprise, everyone was visible. "Are you done trying to kill me?" he huffed as he tried to catch his breath.

"Nonsense Potter. If we were trying to kill you, you'd know," said Moody as he tossed Harry a pepper up potion.

Harry looked up at the Headmaster as he entered the room a few minutes later. "Your shields are good but they need to be stronger. We shouldn't even be able to enter your mind at all."

"I thought that I was to let you enter my mind where you would see only the memories I wanted you to see. Not that it worked, but that's what I tried to do."

The Headmaster stroked his beard and chuckled. "One thing at a time Harry. What you're describing is an advanced form of occlumency."

"Oh. The books describe it at the same time that it describes how to form a shield around my thoughts."

"Now that you've had a chance to catch your breath and you've had a pepper up potion, prepare yourself."

Harry nodded.

"_Legilimens!"_ said Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was able to get in for only a second before Harry shoved him out.

The second try had more force behind it. Harry was able to push him out again.

"Good job Harry. I need you to keep practicing. Tonight, I want you to take a dreamless sleep potion. With all this force on your mind, it's liable to have made you tired and your defenses will be weak. When school resumes, you'll have your shields tested once every two weeks."

"Why so far apart?"

"Because after each lesson, I'll want you to take a dreamless sleep draught and while you can take it once a week safely, I would prefer that you didn't get addicted to it."

Harry nodded.

* * *

"Harry are you ready?"

"I'm coming," Harry shouted as he looked around the room.

He had left his old clothes in his wardrobe and the books that he knew he wouldn't need on his bookshelf. He was also leaving the posters Sirius had gotten for him and the few pictures that he had drawn on the wall.

He could do that now that he truly had a home.

Harry quickly locked his new trunk. (He seriously loved it. It was amazing with all of the features that it had.) He pushed a button on the handle and muttered a phrase under his breath. The trunk then followed him down the stairs.

"Ready kiddo?" asked Sirius.

"Yep. I wish I didn't have to leave you though."

"I'll be alright. You're coming home for Christmas right?"

"Yep," said Harry grinning.

"I'll apparate us to the platform. Remember, you're not to apparate anywhere unless you are in danger. And don't tell anyone you can do it either."

Harry nodded. He had received this speech four times already.

Sirius hugged Harry. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks Sirius."

"And remember, make sure any pranking can't be traced back to you."

Harry chuckled.

They apparated directly onto Platform 9 3/4 then.

Harry immediately got all kinds of stares. "I forgot they didn't see me before they left."

"You'll be alright. You have the two-way mirror?"

"It's in my trunk."

"Good. You can contact me anytime you need to, even if it's just to say hi."

Harry nodded.

"Harry!" Harry looked up to see Neville walking toward him.

"Go on Harry. I love you."

"I love you too, Sirius." He hugged his godfather and headed toward Neville.

"Let's find somewhere to sit," said Neville.

Harry nodded. "I have your birthday present in my trunk. The lady at the shop told me that it wasn't safe to have it delivered by owl."

"But its safe to put in your trunk?"

Harry shrugged. "It's what she said." They quickly found an empty compartment. Harry then fished out Neville's present.

"Harry!" he exclaimed a minute later.

"Do you like it?"

"I do."

Harry grinned. "The lady told me it was safe to grow in the dorm. The book said it was too but I'd still check with Professor Sprout."

Neville nodded then handed over Harry his present. They had decided to exchange gifts on the train when Neville learned that he couldn't go to Harry's party. "I'll check with Professor Sprout after the welcoming feast."

Harry opened his present to find a card game called Pyraxis and a book explaining the many ways to play it.

"Thanks Neville," he said grinning.

"No problem."

Ron and Hermione then bounded in the compartment together. "There you are," said Ron. "Hey Neville."

"Hey Ron. Congratulations on making prefect you two."

They both turned red. "We need to go. We have a prefect meeting. We'll be back after it's over," said Hermione as she placed her things in the luggage rack."

"Have you seen Gabriella yet?" asked Neville tentatively.

"No," said Harry. He was looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time.

"I saw her earlier before you arrived."

Harry just nodded. The train started moving then.

An hour into the train ride, Hermione and Ron walked back into the compartment.

"You okay Harry?" asked Ron. "You look pale."

"It's all the stares. They're driving me crazy."

"Here. Gabriella literally ran into me in the aisle and put this in my hand," said Hermione as she sat down.

Harry took the piece of paper from her. It had his name on it.

_Harry,_

_I needed to let you know that I'm going to end up being horrible to you. I don't mean any of it but I need to do what I can to survive._

_I met __him__ over the summer and it scared me._

_You deserve someone that can make you happy, someone that doesn't have to pretend around you to keep their family from getting into trouble._

_I'll always care for you and the nasty things that I'm sure to say, just know that I don't mean them._

_Stay safe and stay alive,_

_Gabriella_

Harry sighed. He fought back the same kind of emotion that he felt when she had broken up with him. It still hurt, more than he thought it should.

"What's it say?" asked Ron.

"Ron!" scolded Hermione and Neville.

"It's alright. She's just warning me that she's going to have to be not so nice toward me."

"That sucks," said Ron.

"Yeah. It does."

"Anything off the Trolley?"

Harry nodded. He got up and handed the witch some money as he took some licorice wands and a couple of chocolate frogs. As he was putting the change in his pocket, he saw Cho Chang approaching the Trolley.

"Hi Harry," she said while smiling slightly.

"Hi Cho," he replied.

They stared at each other for a minute. "Well, bye Cho."

"Bye Harry."

"Honestly Harry," snickered Hermione as he sat down. "You'd think that dating a girl for six months would have improved the way you act around them."

Harry turned red while Ron and Neville just burst out laughing.

* * *

"Uh, guys, what are those?"

"What are what Harry?" asked Hermione as she put her trunk into the carriage.

"The ... things pulling the carriages," he said. They had always been pulled by magic he assumed.

Ron put pig in the carriage. "Harry, there's nothing there."

"I see them too," said a voice that Harry recognized immediately.

"Hey Luna."

"What are you two on about?" asked Ron.

"They're called Thestral's Harry. I've been able to see them since my first year."

"Those are really unlucky," said Ron with a horrified expression.

"What are Thestral's?" asked Harry after helping Luna put her trunk in their carriage.

"They are not unlucky," said Luna in her dreamy voice.

"You're only supposed to be able to see them if you've seen someone die," said Hermione while frowning.

Harry immediately thought of Cedric.

Luna nodded. "They are quite gentle. On the weekends, I sometimes go out and feed them. You should join me, Harry. I think they would like your freller."

Harry opened to his mouth to ask what a freller was, but the carriage stopped at the castle then. He decided that it was better he didn't know. "See you later, Luna," he said after helping her out of the carriage.

"What do they look like Harry?" asked Hermione intrigued.

He glanced backwards. "It's better you don't know."

* * *

A/N: *Accepts the flogging that will be given for this being posted so late.*

I am soooooooo sorry. RL kinda caught up with me. I'm going to be an aunt sometime this week so I've been busy trying to help everyone finish getting ready for that. Unfortunately that left me with little time to edit and write. I then noticed a distressing thing that Fanfiction has done. All of my own previous line breaks have mysteriously vanished. That means that the past chapter's flow was messed up. The only way that I'll be able to fix it is if I re-upload all of the previous chapter's and fix it that way. I'm not sure when I'll be doing that. I had intended to do it ... but in the future ... like after Harry is informed of the truth. I may still hold off until then b/c I get the feeling that if you all don't get to that chapter soon, I'll receive worse than a flogging. hehe

I realize this chapter was short. I'm sorry for that. I didn't quite realize it was *that* short though until I uploaded it on FF and saw how many words it was. Anyway, this chapter dealt with one of my biggest pet peeves from book 5. (If Dumbles knew the prophecy was at risk, why not take Harry to get it?) So, as you can see, I *really* deviated from canon. Since that was the main purpose of the whole book, what am I doing to write about, you ask?

Let me assure you that Rowling is going to make Umbridge look tame compared to what I'm going to do with her. And then of course there is that thing you all have been waiting forever for me to finally post ... what was it? Oh yeah. Harry being told the truth. That's also this year. I have quite a lot of things that are going to happen this year. Harry will definitely not be bored, though he will seriously wish he was.

Anyway, I do realize that there was no Severus in this chapter. That's fixed in the next chapter, which I promise is longer than this one. If my brother's g/f hasn't had the baby by Tuesday, they are going to induce her then. That said, I'm going to aim for a Friday posting. That will give me time to be there for the birth and helping everyone settle in and time to edit and write.

I wanna thank everyone for the reviews and for hanging in with me for so long. We still have quite the journey to go on. Actually, I'm in a writing mood, so I'm gonna go do that now.

*set's out extra bribes and treats and flee's from thrown pitchforks and chainsaws*


	88. School Starts and so does Detention

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or much else of anything for that matter. Though I do have a rotten cat that likes to make things spill on my notes.

* * *

Chapter 88

* * *

Severus grabbed his robes before heading up to the Great Hall for breakfast. This was going to be an annoying year and if he successfully managed to refrain from doing something nasty to Umbridge, it would be a miracle. All during the opening feast the prior evening, he had watched her watch Harry with her beady eyes. It was almost as if she was looking for him to do something that she could punish him for already.

The little speech she gave during dinner made her motives for being here perfectly clear. So clear, that he had even seen his son catch onto what she was saying. Hopefully this meant that he would stay out of her way.

Knowing his luck, that would not be the case.

Severus sighed and glanced in the mirror. There were still circles under his eyes. Ever since he had been forced to kill that woman this past summer, he had not slept well. Dreamless sleep was not an option because it had quit working for him years ago. He did have a stronger dose that would work, but figured it was part of his penance if he didn't sleep. Sliding his wand into his hand, he cast a glamour to hide the circles.

The last thing he needed was Albus nagging him as well.

Grabbing the Slytherin schedules from the desk in his study, he headed up to the Great Hall to pass them out.

* * *

"A whole weekend before classes start," said Ron on Saturday as they headed down to breakfast. Schedules were still going to be handed out but for once they didn't have to rush back to the dorm to get the right books.

"I say we go flying," said Harry.

"You two should start studying. Our O.W.L. year is supposed to be the hardest yet," said Hermione.

"What are we supposed to study?" asked Ron horrified. "We don't even have any homework yet."

"Honestly Ron. The O.W.L.'s are going to cover everything we've ever learned."

"All the more reason to start off nice and relaxed," he replied.

Harry just shook his head at the two's bickering. As luck would have it, he got to the Great Hall entrance the same time Gabriella did.

It was a natural reaction to smile at her. She had a growth spurt over the summer and her hair seemed longer. She had been pretty last year, but now she was even prettier.

The look in her eyes said that she was sorry before she abruptly turned and walked away.

Naturally that made everyone start whispering again.

As they were walking past the Ravenclaw table he heard, "Did they break up?"

"Wonder why?" asked a girl Harry didn't know.

"Most people don't continue dating over the summer," replied a boy next to the girl.

"Maybe she didn't want to date a liar," replied someone else.

Harry just shook his head.

The newest minister that took over after Overwhelm had been murdered, some guy named Scrimgeour, had declared that 'You-Know-Who was not back - that it was just a ploy to cause panic'.

It seemed that some people had actually believed him.

This was going to be a long year.

After breakfast was over, Harry got his schedule from McGonagall.

"I'm not taking Divination anymore," said Harry before he took the piece of paper from his Head of House.

"It's not on there, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded as he reached for his schedule.

**Monday:** HoM (Ra), Potions (S), Potions (S), Free Period, DADA (H), DADA (H)

**Tuesday:** CoMC (S), Herbology (H), Ancient Runes (Ra), Astronomy (G), Transfig. (G), Transfig (G)

**Wednesday:** Free Period, Herbology (H), DADA (H), Charms (Ra), Charms (Ra), Free Period

**Thursday:** HoM (Ra), Free Period, Ancient Runes (Ra), Astronomy (G), Transfig (G), Transfig (G)

**Friday:** Charms (Ra), Herbology (H), DADA (H), CoMC (S), Potions (S), Potions (S)

Harry liked the look of Wednesday. It started off and ended with a free period.

After breakfast, both boys headed out to the pitch to fly. Hermione, however, grabbed a book to read in the stands while they flew.

* * *

_September 3, 1995_

_I returned the occlumency books earlier tonight. I was told that I couldn't take any more books out for a while, that maybe toward November I would be allowed to. They also seemed concerned that I should be focusing on my O.W.L. year. _

_I did ask ... if he would put out the books that Riddle had read when he had been a student that way I could see what I was up against. He said he would._

_Classes start tomorrow. I really hope that this year isn't going to be as bad as they are making it out to be._

_I did talk to Sirius using the two-way mirror tonight. He says he misses me. I miss him._

_It's nice having a family that actually cares about me._

_-Harry_

Harry stowed his journal away in his trunk and after casting a silencing spell on himself, fell asleep.

* * *

Snape walked around the class room, eyeing everyone as they made the Draught of Peace.

"Very good, Mr. Malfoy."

He watched the blonde stand up straighter.

"Longbottom. What is that?"

The boy jumped which caused him to knock half of his ingredients to the floor.

"Clean it up Longbottom!"

Ten minutes later saw Potter finishing up a perfect Draught of Peace potion, which made Severus hate himself even more for what he was about to do. However, he had appearances to keep up, especially now.

While Harry had turned around to write something down in his notes as the potion cooled off, Severus wordlessly and wandlessly transferred a liquid from one of the jars on the shelf into his potion.

"Potter, what in Merlin's name is that?"

"The Draught of -" Harry stopped mid-sentence and frowned down at the chuck of semi-liquid in his cauldron.

"The Draught of what Potter? Because that is most certainly _not_ the Draught of Peace."

"I ... uh ... I don't know what happened sir. It was fine a second ago." Harry's eyes automatically went to the Slytherin side of the room.

Severus couldn't blame him for that. Merlin knows it wouldn't have been the first time they had sabotaged one of his potions.

"Don't blame the Slytherin's for your ineptitude. Write an essay to be handed to me tomorrow during breakfast on how you failed this potion so miserably. Now clean up your station."

Severus saw Harry's eyes darken as he nodded.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

* * *

"I don't understand it," muttered Harry. "It was a good potion before I turned around."

"Professor Snape was right Harry," said Hermione. "The Slytherin's really didn't sabotage you this time."

Harry sighed. All during lunch and his free period he tried to figure out what he had done wrong. It was driving him insane.

He met up with Ron outside of defense. "How was divination?"

"She was upset you weren't there. Threw a tantrum in fact." Ron snickered at the memory.

Harry rolled his eyes. "What did she expect? _She_ gave me the Dreadful."

Ron snickered again before asking, "You get Snape's essay done?"

"No. I don't even know where to begin," Harry said as he sat down at a table.

"Good afternoon class," said Professor Umbridge in a sickeningly sweet voice as she entered the room.

"Afternoon," replied some of the class.

"Oh that won't do at all! Good afternoon class," she repeated.

"Good afternoon," everyone replied.

"Much better. Now. I am Professor Umbridge and we will be studying the theory of defensive spells this year. Everyone take out your parchment and quills and copy down what's on the board."

Harry's eyes widened. There were at least 40 things written up there.

As he reached for a piece of parchment, Hermione's hand shot up in the air.

"Yes, Ms -"

"Granger, Professor. I don't see anything up there about _using_ defensive spells."

"Using defensive spells? Why on earth would you need to _use_ defensive spells?"

Everyone's head jerked up at that.

"To protect ourselves," pointed out Harry.

"Raise your hand before you speak," scolded Umbridge.

Susan Bones' hand went up.

"Yes Ms. Bones?"

"It's like Harry said. To protect ourselves."

"And what would you need to protect yourselves from?"

Harry raised his hand.

"Yes Mr. Potter?"

"Voldemort."

The entire room jumped.

Umbridge quickly recovered though. "I know that a lot of you were told that You-Know-Who has returned but let me reassure you that _that was a lie_."

"It's not a lie. I saw it with my own eyes," protested Harry.

"Raise your hand before speaking," she scolded again. "Our brilliant minister has decreed that what happened last year was done by Pettigrew, not You-Know-Who."

"Pettigrew was there but Voldemort _is_ back. The sooner we admit that, the better protected we can be."

"Detention for telling lies, Mr. Potter. It starts immediately after class."

Hermione raised her hand again.

"Yes, Ms. Granger?"

"Professor, our O.W.L.'s have a practical portion to them. We need to practice."

"With a sound theory of the spells, you will be able to perform each spell come time for the O.W.L exams. Now. No more questions and no talking. Start copying down what's written this instant."

Harry scowled but done so. It was clear why Umbridge was here. She was nothing more than a ministry puppet.

'This is going to be a long year,' he thought again.

After class let out, Harry stayed in his seat.

Umbridge locked the door and pulled out five single foot long pieces of parchment from her desk along with a special quill. She then placed it in front of him. "You will write 'I must not tell lies' until all five pages are filled, front and back."

Harry bit the retort on his tongue. He then fished in his bag for his jar of ink.

"No, Mr. Potter. You won't need any ink."

Harry shrugged and then picked up the quill. The faster he got finished, the sooner he could go eat.

_I must not tell lies._

To his horror, not only did the words appear on the paper, they also scratched into the back of his hand.

He dropped the quill in surprise.

It was then he realized that the words were written in his blood.

"Something wrong, Mr. Potter?" asked Umbridge with a feral gleam in her eyes.

Harry scowled as he shook his head. He would not give her the satisfaction of complaining.

"I can't hear you."

"No ma'am," he gritted.

"That's right, Mr. Potter. Nothing is wrong. By the time you're finished, I'm sure you'll realize that deep down, you deserve to be punished. After all, if not for you, others' would be alive today."

Harry stared at her in horror. Surely she wasn't implying that he was responsible for Cedric's death. However, judging by the gleam in her eyes ... she was.

Fuming, he picked up the quill and started to write again. She was wrong about that. He wasn't responsible. Everyone had told him that he wasn't.

He wasn't ... was he?

* * *

Harry walked into the common room at 10:30 that night.

"Where have you been, Harry?" asked Ron.

"Detention."

"All this time?"

Harry nodded. "I got it tomorrow too."

"Why?" exclaimed Hermione.

"Because I didn't get finished until after 5th year curfew. I'm going to bed."

"Have you ate anything since lunch?" asked Neville.

"No but I'm not hungry anymore. I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

Harry rubbed his eyes as he marched to the staff table the next morning at breakfast. He had gotten up at 4am to do his homework.

"My essay you asked for Professor."

After Harry handed the rolled up parchment to Snape, McGonagall pulled him off to the side of the Great Hall.

"Mr. Potter, I saw where you already have two detentions and it's only the second day of classes."

"Yes ma'am."

"Why?"

"Because I told the truth about Voldemort being back yesterday in defense."

"She's here to run interference on that Potter."

"Yeah. I figured that out in class professor," replied Harry as he yawned.

"Why did you get the second one?"

"Because she had me serving detention until after 5th year curfew so I got another one for being out after curfew."

McGonagall frowned. "Try to keep your head down Potter and stay out of her way. If you have to agree with her, then do it."

"Professor, I don't like agreeing with stuff that I don't believe in," said Harry surprised.

She sighed. "It was wrong of me to ask you to do so. Just keep your head down in her class. I don't want to see any more detentions from you. Now go eat breakfast."

Harry nodded and went and joined his friends.

* * *

A/N: I'm an aunt! I fully intend to spoil that kid senseless lol. My poor brother and his girlfriend won't see it coming. bwahaha

Anywho, who thinks Snape is gonna flip out if he finds out what Umbridge is doing? hehe Yet again, I apologize for the schedule layout. FF is evil about tables. And I want my own line break's back! *flail*

This chapter, is sadly, the same length as the previous one. The next one isn't much longer, but I may actually be able to combine it with the one after. I'll need to fiddle with some stuff. My writing of the future chapter's is going well, but I'm still not comfortable with how much cushion space I've gotten between what I'm posting and where I'm writing at. Thus, my next update will be posted on Friday (barring anything catastrophic happening of course). Hopefully after that one, I'll be able to go back to the twice a week posting, at least for a little while. =)

For those curious about Gabriella, she'll be making a few appearances. She's not completely gone. I liked her too much to just stuff her in the closet. hehe

I had a couple reader's that were curious about how I was going to handle Umbridge. Let's just say this is only the tip of a very large iceberg. I thought about adding my own version of her speech in, but whenever I sat down to write it, the words just wouldn't come. And as I found out not to long ago, forcing my muse to work is not a good idea. If one does eventually come to me, I'll come back and write it in.

Witchsbroom: The ministry won't use veritaserum on Auror O'Bannen. First, the new minister is trying to prove that Pettigrew is responsible, plus they prefer to catch them in the act. It's bureaucracy. Actually, the new minister has pretty much dismissed Auror O'Bannen from his memory. He's already at Azkaban. Why bring him back and give him Veritaserum? That's just more paperwork, and well ... no one likes more paperwork. Especially politicians. *grins*

Jade and She-Who-Has-A-Very-Long-Name: Look behind you! There's a big pile of chocolate and ice cream! *ninja's the sharp objects and hides them* There ... all better now! =) lol But yes, the truth is coming out this year, and it's actually fairly soon. Not soon as in the next chapter ... but soonerish(tm). :P

Up next, poor Sevvie get's traumatized by Umbridge.


	89. Detention and Occlumency

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the character's! I just like to play with them! *nods shiftily*

* * *

Chapter 89

* * *

"Harry, Quidditch tryouts for the new keeper are on Saturday. I want you there to make sure whoever we get meshes with the whole team," Angelina, the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain said as she started to go up the stairs to the girl's dorm.

Harry nodded around a pile of books. "I'll be there."

"How can we have so much homework in so few days?" demanded Ron.

"No idea," said Harry. "You should be caught up more than I am. You've not had detention with the evil toad lady every night this week."

Neville snickered.

"I've been busy," hedged Ron.

"With what?" asked Harry.

"Stuff," he muttered.

Harry just shook his head at his red headed friend. "Can someone explain to me why I couldn't transfigure my guinea fowl in class today? Because I sure don't know."

"You were mispronouncing the spell," said Hermione around a stack of papers.

"Oh." Harry turned red. "Then why didn't McGonagall tell me that?"

"I'm sure it's because she wanted you to figure it out on your own," replied Hermione as she wrote down something on a spare piece of parchment.

Harry just banged his head on the table.

* * *

"Detention Potter!"

"Why?" asked Harry furiously.

"Because of your messy homework."

"But professor, it isn't messy."

Umbridge looked it over. "It also looks like you cheated. That's a detention for Saturday as well."

"I didn't cheat!" exclaimed Harry.

The windows in the room started rattling. Harry took a deep, calming breath. The last thing he needed to do was explode something.

"See me after dinner," she said with a nasty smile.

Harry stormed out in the hallway after class.

"Harry?"

"What?" he asked as he turned around. "Oh. Sorry Susan." He had apparently lost his mind. Now he was randomly snapping at people.

"Are you all right?"

Harry sighed. "No. Angelina's gonna murder me."

"I'm sorry Umbridge is being so horrible to you," she said gently. "My aunt told me to avoid her if I could."

"Thanks. Unfortunately, it appears that I _can't_ avoid her," he said as he shifted his book bag to his other shoulder. "Uh, was there something you needed?"

"I heard a rumor that you and Gabriella broke up," she said cautiously.

"Yeah, we did," he said. Harry noticed that Ron and Hermione had slowed down and were now walking behind them. He frowned back at them. 'Why did they do that?' he wondered.

"I was just curious. You know how rumor's fly around here."

Harry grimaced. He did indeed. "I'll see you later Susan. I have an essay to write for Hagrid at lunch."

She nodded and took off.

Harry then turned around to glare at Ron and Hermione. "Why did you two slow down?"

"Don't look at me," shrugged Ron. "She grabbed me by the robe and pulled me back."

"You two are utterly clueless. Why couldn't I have any girlfriends?" huffed Hermione.

* * *

Severus reached for one of his potion journals. With barely a glance, he flipped it open to the appropriate page.

He had just dipped his quill in a jar of ink to resume his own note taking when a knock at the door made him look up.

"What do you need Mr. Lann?"

"You're a Death Eater aren't you?" blurted out the boy.

In one swift motion, Severus had his wand drawn and pointed it at the door, causing it to slam shut and privacy barriers to erect.

"You foolish boy. You need to take care where you say those words at in this school." Severus stood up and circled his desk. He was pleased when the boy flinched.

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"What I may or may not be is of no concern to you. Why?"

"Because ... Because I want to become one too." The boy stood up straight and squared his shoulder's.

Severus sneered. "The Dark Lord does not take children into his service."

"I'm not a child. I'm seventeen!"

"You are still at Hogwarts! Until you graduate this spring, you cannot be marked."

"Why?"

"Do you not think the Headmaster will realize it when you show up one morning marked? Do you really want him to pull you from school and send you to Azkaban?"

"He wouldn't. My father wouldn't let him."

"Your father wouldn't have a say in the matter." Severus eyed the boy. "What is it you want to do after you graduate?"

"I have an apprenticeship waiting for me in France to study Curse Breaking."

"You need to wait until you're over there then before you approach the Dark Lord. Once you get over there and can make useful contact's, you'll have more to offer."

He was pleased to see the boy think about it. "All right sir. That makes sense. Thank you for your time."

Severus waved his wand, bringing the wards down and watched as he exited the room. He then sighed. He hoped the boy would reconsider. Hopefully once he got to France and started his training, he would forget all about the Dark Lord.

* * *

_I must not tell lies._

_I must not tell lies._

Harry noticed that the words on his hand wasn't fading anymore and that the cut was slower to close.

He had blood practically everywhere.

Two hours later, the cut finally quit closing, but he still wouldn't complain. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of him doing so.

Harry's stomach growled slightly. He had missed lunch and dinner because of this detention. The food that the elf brought to the room was ate by her. He didn't get any of it.

He glanced toward the window after a while without ever breaking stride in his writing. It was dark out. He idly wondered who had made keeper during tryouts. When he had told Angelina that he couldn't be there, she had gone nuts.

Harry forced himself to keep writing. He had been serving detention since 11am. His hand was numb and cramped. It no longer hurt when the quill wrote into his hand because he couldn't feel anything.

At 9pm, Umbridge cleared her throat. "Clean up your mess, Mr. Potter."

Harry silently nodded. He cleaned up all the blood and put the pieces of parchment in his robe pocket. He would not leave any blood for her to do who knows what with. After he cleaned out the quill thoroughly, he headed to the kitchens using a secret passage.

An elf greeted him. "How can Izzy be helping sir?"

"Is Dobby around?"

The elf nodded and bounced away to find him.

"Harry Potter sir!"

"Hey Dobby. Can you fix me something to eat? I didn't get to eat lunch or dinner and I'm hungry."

Five minutes later found Harry sitting at a table talking to a few of the elves that he had gotten to know over the years. Winky, he was pleased to see, looked a little bit better than the last time he saw her.

It only took him about ten minutes to eat. "Thanks everyone. You all do really good work. I'll see you later."

It was 9:30 when Harry got back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Harry, I made it!" exclaimed Ron.

"Made what?" asked Harry, completely confused.

"Keeper!"

His eyes widened in surprise. "Nice Ron! I wish I could have seen it."

"Where have you been?" asked Neville.

"Detention," Harry said as he gently rubbed his glamoured hand. "I got out at nine and went to the kitchen to eat something really quick."

"She kept you in detention all day?" demanded Hermione.

"Yeah. I have so much homework to do but I'm tired. I'm going up to bed." He then turned his focus on his grinning best friend. "I'm happy for you Ron. Is practice still tomorrow?"

Ron nodded eagerly.

Harry went upstairs. After a quick shower, he used his two-way mirror to call Sirius.

"Sirius."

Harry sighed. Sirius must be out or asleep so after 10 minutes of waiting, he put the mirror up. Then he grabbed his potions' book.

Fifteen minutes later he found what he was looking for.

Essence of Murtlap for stinging pain. It was a really simple potion. He could have made it in his first year.

Hoping his dorm mates didn't come up for a little while, he quickly and quietly prepared the potion. It didn't require any heat and he had the ingredients in his basic potions kit.

Ten minutes later, he breathed a sigh of relief as he put his hand in the bowl. He closed his eyes and meditated as the pain left him.

* * *

"You still have your Hogsmeade visit right?" asked Ron as he changed into his pajama's.

"Yeah," Harry said as he climbed into bed. "I can't wait to get away from the castle and Umbridge."

"You ever get caught up on your homework?" asked Neville.

Harry snorted. "No and I doubt I will. Between detention and Quidditch, I only get to work on it a couple hours a night."

"You should tell McGonagall about all these detentions," said Ron.

"She already knows. I've received the 'stay out her way' lecture about seven times now. I can pretty much recite it word for word in my head as she says it out loud." Harry pulled his curtains around his bed. "Night you guys. See you in the morning."

"Night," they both chimed in.

* * *

Severus stalked to Umbridge's door. He had been about to knock on it when the portrait informed him that she was busy.

"Do you think I care?" sneered Snape. He then proceeded to knock on the door anyway.

"Just a minute," came a voice from within. Severus raised a brow. He was surprised she hadn't sound proofed her room.

"Lady Umbridge, might I have a word with you?"

"Certainly, Professor Snape. Come in."

Severus strode in and almost gagged at the room. It was _all_ pink. There were also about four cats roaming around that he could see.

"What can I do for you?"

"I went to go assign Potter detention today for his inability to read directions correctly but he told me that you had already given it to him until Thursday."

"That's correct."

"While it pleases me that someone is finally showing him that the world does not revolve around his person, I have cauldrons that need cleaned and ingredients that need to be cut up. Might I borrow him for this evening's detention?"

She seemed to be thinking it over. "How long will you keep him for?"

"He normally does not get finished until near time for curfew," sneered Snape. He was forcibly trying to keep from vomiting due to the brightness of the room. It made some of the Headmaster's more eccentric robes look tame in comparison.

"Well. I _could_ use an evening free to relax. I'll put a note on my door telling him to report to you after dinner."

"Thank you, Lady Umbridge. If there is anything I can do for you, just say the word."

She nodded.

Severus all but fled from her _very_ pink quarter's. He felt he would be traumatized for life because of it.

* * *

Harry knocked on Professor Snape's door after making sure the glamour was active to hide his scarred hand.

"Get in here Potter. I don't have all day."

Harry went in Snape's office. He winced as Snape waved his wand at the door, causing it to slam and lock. Glancing around the room revealed the magical signature of Dumbledore in the corner.

"Send him to the class room when you are finished, Headmaster."

Albus nodded as he re-made himself visible.

"Have a seat Harry."

Harry sat down.

"How are classes going so far?"

"Most are all right."

"I take it you find your defense against the dark arts class lacking?"

"Sir, she's not letting us do any practicals' at all in class. If I didn't know for a fact she wasn't a Death Eater, I'd wonder about her."

"You can still tell that Professor Snape has the Dark Mark then?"

Harry nodded. "And at platform 9 3/4's I was able to see which adults had the mark. It's a distracting ... but useful ability."

The Headmaster chuckled slightly. "Professor McGonagall said that she talked to you about staying out of Professor Umbridges' way."

"She did, several times."

"Yet you are still getting detention."

Harry shrugged. "Apparently the fact that I exist is a good enough reason to give me a detention."

"What did you do to earn four days of detention in a row?"

Harry turned red. "I'd rather not say."

"Do you actually deserve this detention?" asked the Headmaster disapprovingly.

"Yes sir," he said sheepishly. And he did. He had called Umbridge a toad-faced teacher. Unfortunately, a group of 6th and 7th year Slytherin's had come out of the Three Broomsticks at that moment and heard him. When he had gotten back to the school, she was waiting on the front steps for him.

"Just try to stay out of trouble Harry. Now, I'm going to test your shields. Tonight, you are to take a Dreamless Sleep Draught."

Harry nodded.

An hour later, the Headmaster smiled. "Very good, Harry. They are strong. Just remember not to hide your emotions behind them. It can be _very_ self-destructive."

"I understand, sir."

"Go on out to Professor Snape. I saw him with some cauldron's that needed cleaning earlier."

"Have a good night, sir."

"You too, Harry."

Harry put the dreamless sleep draught in his pocket and headed out to the potions classroom.

* * *

A/N: Argh. I want to be able to put my own line break's in! *throws a tantrum* Ok. Now that that's outta my system.

As you can see, ole toad-face has Harry in detention pretty much every single day. Can you imagine writing with that quill every single day for hours at a time? That would suck. Also, I think my blood quill is more messy than what Rowling described. Sadly, detention isn't over yet for Harry.

This chapter doesn't have a whole lot of action in it either (Sorry!), but it does take us to the end of September. The next chapter coming up has quite a few teacher's questioning Umbridge's motives towards Harry. I won't be able to update again until next Friday. I have a bunch of stuff to do that I've been putting off for a month. If I put it off any longer, I think both my mother and grand father will strangle me. lol Personally, I can't wait until I can do the twice a week posting again, because I have a lot of fun stuff written. Or rather, I should say, I had a lot of fun writing what's coming up. Hopefully I'll be able to go back to that schedule soon.

For those that asked, I have a nephew. He's doing really good. I quite enjoy the spoiling that I've done so far. hehe =)

Good-Book-Eater: The angry mob that showed up, I put them to work out in the yard. I figured that since they all had pitchforks and hoes and rakes, that that was what they were all here for. *grins*

Jade: Hopefully I have something that fits your criteria coming up, really soon too! *builds a barricade of pillows just in case*

And yay for first time reviewer's! =)

Next chapter will be up by/on Friday!

*set's out cupcakes, candy, pizza, and random shiney things to amuse people until then* =)


	90. Nightmare called Umbridge

Disclaimer: *waves magic wand* Bah, I still don't own HP!

* * *

Chapter 90

* * *

Harry quietly entered the charms classroom. He was hoping that Flitwick hadn't started lecturing yet, but naturally, that was not the case.

"You're late again, Mr. Potter," said Flitwick disapprovingly from where he stood.

"Sorry, Professor."

Harry quickly put his book bag down and began taking notes on the silencing charm, which was evidently a 5th year spell.

'Perfect, That's all I needed was another sign of just how much of a freak I am,' he thought as he copied down what was written on the board.

Eventually class let out. "Mr. Potter, stay after class a minute."

Harry approached Flitwick's desk. "Yes, Professor?"

"This is the third time you've been late to my class."

"I know. I'm sorry, sir."

"What's keeping you at lunch to make you late?"

"Detention."

"From whom?"

"Professor Umbridge."

Flitwick sighed. "Very well. Run along."

Harry nodded and headed to the dorm to do his homework during his free period.

* * *

Albus rubbed his temples. He was worried and exhausted. Severus had been gone all weekend and he hadn't heard a peep from him.

He knew the man could take care of himself but it still didn't stop him from worrying.

Albus eyed the clock on the wall that he had tuned to Severus during the first war. It pointed to "out of range", which was better than dead, but he still worried.

Looking for a distraction, he began doing some paper work.

Perhaps ten minutes had passed when Fawkes suddenly gave an indignant squawk and flashed away. Albus frowned. "Well that's different."

A couple minutes later, he flashed back with a note tied to his leg.

It was two in the morning. Who on earth could possibly be awake enough to send a note.

_Professor,_

_I was woken up by a dream. My shields were up but Voldemort is seriously mad. He wanted some type of information but couldn't get it. Professor Snape told Voldemort the bad news. He was tortured. I woke up then. I called Fawkes so that you could know as soon as possible._

_I swear my shields were up. I'm sorry Professor._

_Harry_

Albus eyes' widened as he read the note. This could be bad. He would need to do more extensive testing of Harry's occlumency shields.

He had planned on making Severus tell Harry the truth after the next test of the boy's shields, if they were strong. In fact, he hadn't planned on leaving the room until Severus had done so.

The man was suffering in silence again about not being able to approach Harry. And Sirius, well Sirius see's a mini-James, not realizing that he's _not_ James. His heart is in the right place but it's hard for him to understand Harry.

Everyone wanted what was best for the boy, yet he was still tangled in a web of deceit so thick that a person could barely see straight.

Albus couldn't help but think that before everything was said and done, more than one person would end up heart broken, and that one of them would most definitely be Harry.

A light knock at his door brought him out of his musings.

He rushed to open it.

"Severus. Thank Merlin. Are you alright?"

"I've had better days," replied the potion master. "I knew you would still be awake."

Albus ushered Severus into a seat. "What happened?"

"Lucius is a bloody coward. He nearly got me killed. That's what happened."

* * *

"How's Ron been doing during practice?" asked Ginny as she sat down beside of Harry at one of the tables in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"He's been doing alright," said Harry. Granted, Ron had a serious case of the nerves during practice, but he was getting better as his confidence grew.

"What are you working on?" she asked after a minute had passed.

"Ancient Runes translation."

"I didn't take it. I took Arithmancy instead."

Harry nodded as he reached for a new piece of parchment.

He was completely oblivious to the fact that Ginny stayed seated near him until it was time to go to his occlumency lesson with Dumbledore.

* * *

"Hello, Harry."

"Hi Professor. Are we testing my shields?"

"We are, but first I need to ask you some questions."

"All right."

"Have you had any more dreams?"

"No. Occasionally I can get ... feelings from him if they are strong feelings but this past weekend was the first time I was sucked into his head."

The only sign of eaves dropping that Snape had shown was that his quill paused in writing for half a second.

"And you are sure your shields were up?"

"Yes sir. It was a natural reaction to check as soon as I sat up in bed."

Albus nodded. "Are you still reading those books you had over the summer?"

"No sir. I had to return them and I've not had a chance to ... borrow them again."

"Are you still meditating?" asked Albus. He had noticed Harry's pause but decided to let it go. It really was hard to tell where Harry found the books.

Harry chuckled. "I find myself doing that several times a day otherwise I see myself blowing up that to- ... er ... someone."

A snicker elicited from the potion's master which made Harry and Albus turn around bemusedly to look at him.

"There's another reason why I've been meditating a lot," continued Harry. "If I can sense his emotions when he's really upset or angry, I'm afraid he can sense mine when I'm the same way."

"He is not yet aware of the connection but I've also had that worry should he become aware of it. I'm pleased that you have already considered it."

Harry smiled.

"I'm going to be a lot more forceful with testing your shields today."

Harry nodded again.

"_Legilimens!"_

It was sometime later that the Headmaster asked, "Harry, what were you doing in Umbridge's detention that made you shove me out of your mind so quickly?"

"Just writing lines Professor," said Harry as he looked down at his shoe's.

The Headmaster frowned. Harry was a horrible liar. There was more to it than just writing lines but he wouldn't push him. "Very well. Don't forget to take the dreamless sleep draught tonight."

"Potter. If anyone asks, you harvested rat spleens for your detention," Snape said before he had gotten up from his chair.

Harry nodded and headed to the dorm to get some more homework done before he passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

"Harry?"

Harry looked up and was surprised to see Gabriella beckoning him over. He turned to look at his friends. "Go on. I'll be there in a minute."

He then went and joined her in the empty classroom.

"Hey. How have you been?" he asked while he sat down in one of the chairs in the room.

"Better than you. You look half dead."

Harry snorted. "I feel half dead."

Gabriella sat herself on the table next to where he was sitting. They sat in surprising comfortable silence for a few minutes. "I miss you, Harry."

"I miss you too, Gabby, but there's not much we can do about it. I don't want to sneak around and openly dating you again would net you into some serious danger."

The room went silent again for about five seconds when she suddenly blurted, "My father is currently negotiating my betrothal to Astoria's brother."

The window in the room cracked, making her jump.

Harry flushed, dropped his wand in his hand, and swiftly repaired it.

"I wanted to tell you so that you didn't find out about it second handed."

"But you hate Astoria's brother," said Harry when he was sure that he could speak in an even tone.

"Even Astoria knows that her brother and I would end up killing each other. It's my father's way of controlling who I date."

"Isn't a betrothal a bit old fashioned?" asked Harry after a minute or two had passed.

Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "Harry, a lot of the kids that attend here are already betrothed, either to someone else who attends this school, or to someone from one of the other ones. It's something that's very common in pure blood families. It's one of the ways to keep the pure blood lines pure."

"But what about marrying for love?"

She gave a wry smile. "Some people do fall in love afterwards, some do not. My parents were betrothed, and I'd like to think that they love each other."

Harry looked down at the ground. He felt a myriad of emotion's run through him.

"My mom is currently trying to talk my dad out of this. She doesn't ask him for much, but she is asking that I be allowed to choose for myself. I believe that she will eventually win out, but that it will take time."

"What does Markus have to say about this?"

"Oh, he's not happy about it either. He doesn't like me since I embarrassed him last year and besides, he's dating a girl from Ravenclaw."

"What are you doing to do?"

"There's not much I can do. Maybe if I can prove to my father that my taste in boys has improved, then he'll give in to my mother's wishes."

"Which means you're going to be looking for a boyfriend," said Harry with dawning understanding.

Gabriella nodded. "I'd choose you in a heart beat, but I think that's what got me in this predicament to start with. Personally, I don't care if you were completely muggleborn, but my father does."

Harry suddenly found it hard to breathe. He got up and started to pace around the room a bit.

"I wanted you to hear it from me. It only seemed right."

He stopped pacing in front of her. He felt very, very tired. "Thank you for explaining it to me. It appears there's still a lot about the Wizarding World that I don't know yet. I wonder if I'll ever learn everything I need to know." He then looked her in the eyes, and trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about, took her hands and said, "Live your life, Gabriella. Hermione once told me that everything happens for a reason. I have to believe there is a reason for this. If we are meant to be, then we will be."

"Do you really believe that?" she asked with a slight smile.

"I have to believe in something. Believing that everything happens for a reason keeps me sane to some degree."

"So you don't believe that fate sometimes needs a nudge to get things rolling?"

Harry grinned at her. "Sometimes I believe that fate needs a big nudge."

Gabriella then leaned in to kiss him on the lips.

Merlin, how he had missed that. He doubted they would have pulled apart had they not heard, "hem, hem." He had been so engrossed in her, he hadn't realized that they were no longer alone.

When Harry pulled away and saw the sadistic look on Umbridge's face, he knew that he was in serious trouble.

And he was right.

The punishment he had received for being closer than eight inches to a girl consisted of detention every day for a month, including weekends. The punishment he had gotten for actual physical contact with a girl got his free period's and Hogsmeade weekend's taken away.

The only consolation that he had received was that Gabriella did not get punished.

* * *

Two days after losing all of his free time to Umbridge's detention found Harry walking with Neville and Ron to defense. Hermione had stayed behind after class for a moment to ask Professor Sprout a question.

As they neared the defense classroom, they heard shouting.

When they rounded the corner, they saw why.

A Gryffindor and Slytherin 3rd year had broken out into a duel and neither were using safe spells.

"They're going to injure someone," whispered Harry, alarmed.

"Who cares," said Ron as he watched the fight with some kind of blood thirsty hunger.

"Ron, you're a prefect. You need to stop this."

"I'm not getting in the middle of that," he said horrified.

"You're supposed to," said Neville.

"Fat chance. Oooo That was a cool spell," said Ron as the Slytherin boy went flying.

Harry scowled at his best friend. To his horror, Draco exited a secret passage that put him right between the renewed spell casting. Without a backward glance to his friends, he ran forward and yelled, "Down Malfoy!"

The blonde just turned around stupidly to see who yelled.

"_Protego_!" yelled Harry as he directed his shield over Malfoy.

Another set of curses went flying from the two dueling students.

"_Expelliarmus_," Harry cried out as he pointed his wand at the Gryffindor.

Of course, as the boys' wand landed in his hand, the Slytherin sent a bone crushing curse toward both Harry and the now unarmed Gryffindor.

Knowing that he wouldn't have enough time to cast a block to deflect it, he pointed his wand at the nearest head bust of Archie the Achiever, and said "_accio_". The statue flew into the path of the spell causing it to reflect off of it and hit the ceiling harmlessly.

"_Expelliarmus_," he cried at the Slytherin, disarming him a split second later.

Harry then looked around. A small crowd had gathered around to watch, but not to help, he noticed with disgust. What was with everyone? Even Ron looked disappointed that he had stopped the duel.

Then he saw that Neville had helped. He was physically restraining the Gryffindor from simply charging at the Slytherin boy.

"Are you alright Malfoy?" asked Harry as he helped the blonde up. The force of his shield had knocked him down.

Slightly dazed, Malfoy just nodded.

"Hem, hem."

Harry sighed.

"Potter has our wands," cried out the Slytherin boy.

"Mr. Potter, is this true?"

There wasn't any reason to deny it. He had two extra wands in his left hand.

"Yes, Professor."

"I see. Since you already have detention every day and you've lost your Hogsmeade visit, I think that this is going to cause you to lose your Quidditch privileges. Yes. That will do nicely."

"Bur Professor," spoke up Neville. "These two were fighting and nearly harmed innocent bystanders."

"I don't care the reason. The punishment stands. Now, everyone to class," she said in her sickeningly sweet voice.

Hermione came around the corner then.

"What the -?" she whispered.

"Professor. It's not fair to just punish Harry when all he did was stop the fight. The two fighting should at least get detention," protested Neville - quite bravely.

"Unless you would like to join him, Mr. Longbottom, I suggest you go into the classroom. Mr. Potter is not a prefect and therefore should not have been the one to attempt to stop this alleged fight."

"It's alright Neville," said Harry as he picked up his dropped book bag off of the floor. He didn't want Neville to have to suffer because of him as well. After all, he didn't deserve it.

"It's not," he said stubbornly. "I'm going to McGonagall."

"Neville. No. Really. It's all right."

They all entered the classroom and sat down.

"What did I miss?" asked Hermione.

Harry just shook his head to try to make her let it go. He did see that Ron was red in the face. When Hermione found out that he just stood there, refusing to break up the fight, he imagined the red head was going to get an ear full.

* * *

"What do you mean you lost your Quidditch privileges?" screeched out Angelina in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"I'm sorry Angelina. I certainly didn't mean to."

"Why couldn't you have just stayed out of it?"

"Because they were either going to hurt themselves, or someone else. They needed to be stopped."

"Then you should have let Ron stop them. He was with you."

"Yeah, well, it didn't work out that way."

"Great. Now I'm gonna have to hold tryout's for a new seeker." With that said, Angelina strode off in the direction of the girl's dorm.

"Oliver rubbed off on her too much before he graduated," said Fred.

"Don't let her get to you, Harry," said George.

Harry sighed in frustration. "I have to go you guys. I'm already late for detention. I can only imagine how late she's going to keep me because of it."

* * *

"Headmaster, I demand you do something about her!" exclaimed McGonagall.

"I agree," squeaked out Flitwick. "His work has dropped from outstanding to poor. I know he can do better than this and so does he."

"Maybe Potter is just lazy," said Severus impassively from his chair.

Flitwick and McGonagall had both barged in on his meeting with the Headmaster. Ironically enough, he too had been complaining about Umbridge and her treatment of Harry.

"The boy is not lazy. He's even more gifted than his mother was in charms and that does _not_ leave room for laziness."

Severus and Albus' eyes both widened in surprise. For that to come from Flitwick's mouth meant that Harry really had to be gifted.

"Harry stopped a duel between Foster and Bretten this past Friday. He even went so far to protect Mr. Malfoy from any stray curses because he had wandered into the middle of it," exclaimed McGonagall. "And _he_ got punished for it. There was no reason for her to take away Quidditch from the boy."

"He's almost always late for class on Wednesday's because he serves detention through lunch. Hagrid told me that he's nearly always late for his class on Friday's for the same reason," said Flitwick.

"That woman has a vendetta against Harry. She needs to be stopped before he snaps, and to be honest, when he does I'm going to cheer him on."

"I've talked with Dolores about all of this. Since none of this is illegal, I can't do anything about it. I agree that she is focusing too much on Harry and Harry knows this. As for the duel he interrupted, I've already had half the portraits up here telling me what really happened. Unless she does something illegal, I can't stop her. The minister is supporting everything she does."

"What does Potter do during detention?" asked Snape.

"Lines from what I can tell," responded McGonagall.

"Albus, surely there is _something_ you can do."

"Unless Harry tells us she is doing something illegal, my hands are tied."

* * *

Severus rubbed his temples. He had a headache that would make even the Dark Lord cranky. Unfortunately, none of his headache relieving potions were working on it.

Sighing, he picked up the stack of 5th year essay's to grade. Eventually he came to Potter's essay's. First of all, he had only turned in one of the three - which had earned a lecture in class. Looking at the one that he did write, he realized that it was written in about the time span of five minutes.

He frowned. This had to be because of Umbridge. Harry having detention every day apparently meant that he didn't have time for anything else. None of the other staff knew what Harry had done to earn himself detention every day for a month and the boy wouldn't tell anyone when they asked. The only reprieve he had from whatever her detention's consisted of was when the Headmaster tested his shields, which was really not much of a break.

Severus looked back down at the essay and saw that one of the sentences wasn't even complete!

He put his quill down and leaned back in his chair. Potter had looked resigned when he handed the essay in, which was how he had looked all week. Severus realized with a start that the boy had given up, he wasn't fighting for anything anymore.

That was not good. It could _not_ be allowed to continue.

Perhaps it was time. Albus had been pressuring him again and said that Harry's occlumency shields were strong, despite the apparent breach a couple of weeks ago. And with the truth, hopefully he would be able to find a way to help his son develop some of his Slytherin side to learn to avoid Umbridge.

Of course, that's assuming Harry didn't out right hand him over to the Dark Lord first.

* * *

A/N: As always, I wanna thank everyone for the reviews! =)

I'm actually quite happy with this chapter. I had intended on the duel interrupted up there for a while. I also had this Gabriella scene later, but I realized I had a chance to make Umbridge more evil if I moved it here ... so I did! Can you imagine having detention every day, including weekends, during lunch, after dinner, and your free periods and if you lost your ability to play sports as well? It would suck. And writing with the blood quill every single time for hours at a time?

Next chapter, sadly, isn't as long as this one, but as a consolation prize for it, there is a father-son bonding moment. ;-)

I'm gonna aim for a Thursday/Friday posting. My muse has been on fire lately ... and while it's a good thing, it's also a bad thing. My hand is cramped from writing so much! However, I am still not ready to go back to twice a week postings yet. I'm not far enough ahead of myself to feel comfortable doing that.

*set's out shiny stuff and cake and pie and ice cream and flee's from all sharp objects!*


	91. Blood Quill Discovered

Disclaimer: I still don't own HP or any character thereof! =/

* * *

Chapter 91

* * *

Severus stalked around the room watching as everyone worked on the first stage of the Draught of All-Glory. He planned on telling Potter the truth today. In fact, he didn't plan on letting anything short of a summons stop him from telling Harry the truth. Albus even had a plan to distract Dolores so that she couldn't interrupt.

He saw that Potter simply looked exhausted. He hadn't even turned in his homework, which earned him another lecture at the beginning of class. Hopefully he would be able to handle the news.

Severus noticed that he was using his left hand again to stir the potion. Harry had been doing that since the middle of September.

It was time to find out why. "Potter, use your right hand. You are not left-handed."

"I don't mind using my left hand," he replied listlessly.

Severus sneered. "While I'm sure it's cramped from the permanent detention you seemed to have acquired from Professor Umbridge, it's not going to excuse you from doing your work correctly."

The Slytherin's had looked up during his berating and laughed.

About five minutes later, Severus looked in Potter's cauldron.

"Everyone grab your things and leave! Now! Hurry!"

Everyone quickly grabbed their things and fled the classroom.

"Potter, go to my office and wait on me."

As Snape was sealing off the classroom, he heard Granger ask, "Harry, do you have a glamour on your hands or arms?"

"Er ... why?" he hedged.

"This potion can't be made with any type of glamour on your hands or arms. If you have one on that means you almost poisoned us."

Harry's eyes widened in horror.

"Potter! I thought I said to wait in my office!"

He saw the boy startle slightly then head to his office.

"Ms. Granger, please go inform Professor Umbridge that I will be needing Potter in detention this evening."

"Yes, Professor Snape."

When Severus walked in his office, he saw Potter looking through his potions manual. "You should have done that last night."

Harry merely sighed. "I know, sir. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I'm not passing any classes."

After warding the door, Severus sat down across from Harry. "If I thought any of you knew how to cast glamours correctly, I'd have said something at the beginning of class. The fault lies with me as well."

Harry turned red.

"Remove the glamour. I want to see what you're hiding."

"Er ... I'd rather not sir."

"Remove it Potter, or I will."

Harry frowned down at his hand and after quickly drawing his wand, he removed the glamour.

Severus suddenly grabbed Harry's hand. "Did Umbridge do this to you?" he demanded.

Harry hissed as Snape ran his fingers lightly over the freshly re-opened the scar of 'I must not tell lies'. As Harry nodded, he saw a dangerous glint enter into his professor's eyes. It made Harry physically pull away.

"Did she use a blood quill?" he demanded.

Harry tentatively nodded again.

"I'll kill her." Snape made to leave the room.

"Professor, don't! I'm not worth getting into trouble over."

He paused at the door and looked back at his son. "You are, Harry. Why did you tell no one about this? Blood quill's are illegal. The Headmaster has been looking for one illegal act to get Umbridge out of here."

Harry stayed silent and looked at his shoes.

"Answer me. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because I deserve to be punished okay! I deserve the pain that writing with the blood quill causes!" he screamed.

Severus' eyes widened in surprise. "Who told you that? What makes you think that?"

"Everyone that get's near me dies. My parents died because of me! Cedric died because of me! I'm like poison to everyone around me!"

"Potter, you are not poison to everyone around you. Did Umbridge tell you these lies?"

"They're not lies!" A random jar behind Harry exploded as he yelled, but neither noticed.

"But they are lies. I may not agree with your godfather on many things, but even _he_ would tell you that they are lies. Is this the only reason you didn't tell anyone?"

Harry shook his head slightly. "She's sleeping with the Minister. She told me that she could have anyone fired she wanted to. I knew that whoever I told would most likely get fired and I couldn't let that happen because of me either."

Severus sighed out of frustration. "Harry, I know that you have no faith in adults because you believe we have no faith in you but I want to dispel you of that notion. I have a lot of faith in you and I am _very_ proud of the man you are becoming. But you need to give up the Gryffindor side of you that wants to protect everyone because all you are doing is sacrificing yourself. It's not healthy. I know you have a Slytherin side in you. Use some of that self preservation that I know you _must_ possess."

Harry was looking at Snape in shock. "You ... you ..." He shook his head and tried again. "You're proud of me?"

"I am very proud of you. Listen to me. If anyone ever feels off to you, or something bothers you, you may come and tell me. I will not push it aside. It will have to be done in private, though. Remember that."

And in that moment, when he was looking in Snape's eyes, searching for the truth in the statements that he had just said, he felt what ever type of bond that had previously formed between them strengthen. In that moment, Harry received a wave of comfort that he imagined is what a father would send to his son when he was hurting. In that moment, he felt closer to Snape than he did everyone else in his life.

Startled by that mini-revelation, he sat back some and gave a slight nod.

"Now you stay here. I need to go have a chat with Umbridge," snarled Snape as he stood up from where he was kneeling next to Harry.

However, when Snape opened the door, he came face to face with the Headmaster.

"My Severus, what's the rush? Oh, hello Harry!"

Harry pulled his hand up into his sleeve.

"I'm busy Headmaster, though Potter has something to tell you."

"Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape is going to kill Umbridge. You might not want to let him go."

"Now Severus. Hold on a moment." The Headmaster walked fully in the room, shut the door, and erected some kind of barrier.

"Show him."

Harry sighed and uncovered his hand. The Headmaster swiftly knelt down next to Harry to look. "She used a blood quill in my school?"

"I'm going to kill her for it too. Those scars will never leave his hand."

"Harry, go on up to dinner. During dinner, I want you to tell Professor McGonagall that you recently learned blood quills were illegal and show her your hand."

"I don't understand."

"Professor Snape cannot be the one to tell me this. I'm going to assume your detention for almost poisoning your classmates will still stand, so make sure you come back to detention after dinner."

"Uh ... okay sir." News certainly does travel fast.

Once in the Great Hall, Harry sat down to eat. He ignored all the questions everyone kept plying him with. Evidently Neville thought Snape had turned him into some kind of potion ingredient.

"Do you know what he's going to make you do during your detention?" squeaked out Neville.

Harry shrugged, and despite the fact that he was tired, he realized that this was the opening he needed.

"Personally, I'd prefer Snape's detention over Umbridge and her Blood Quill."

About half of the table turned towards him in shock when he said that. "She's using a Blood Quill?"

Harry nodded, with what he hoped was a confused frown on his face.

"Those are illegal!" hissed Hermione.

"They are?"

"Yes," said Neville. "Harry, you need to tell someone. Those are illegal for a reason."

"I've not seen any scars on your hand," said Ron as he glanced at Harry's hands.

"Which is why he almost poisoned us in class today, Ron. He has a glamour on it. Harry. You need to go tell Professor McGonagall. If you don't, then I will."

Harry sighed and got up from the table to head up to where the professor's were sitting.

"Professor McGonagall."

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Hermione told me blood quills are illegal. Is that true?"

Every professor turned towards Harry.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. They are indeed illegal."

Harry then pulled up his sleeve and removed the glamour from his hand. "Someone needs to tell Professor Umbridge then."

"Albus," she said alarmed, as she grabbed his hand - which caused Harry to hiss in pain.

The Headmaster looked at Harry's hand. "Go up to my office. The password is licorice wands."

"Potter has detention with me," sneered Snape.

"He'll just have to be late then."

Harry headed up to Dumbledore's office. While waiting, he called for Dobby.

"Yes, Harry Potter?"

"Dobby, can you bring me my trunk?"

"Dobby is trying to pack your trunk last year but I is not being able to touch it." His ears drooped.

"I got a new trunk for my birthday. I was allowed to key one house elf to it so I chose you."

"Oh! Harry Potter sir! Such an honor!" After Harry hugged the now crying elf, he vanished to get Harry's trunk.

Dobby reappeared the same time the Headmaster plus all four Heads of House, Madam Pomphrey and Umbridge had entered in the room.

"Thank you Dobby." Harry opened his trunk and pulled out well over 300 single foot pieces of parchment. They all had 'I must not tell lies' written on them in his blood.

Everyone cried in immediate outrage.

"I told you to clean your mess up. That included destroying these!"

Harry shrugged. "For all I knew, you'd have found some way to get those back and there was no way I was going to let you have access to any of my blood."

"You foolish boy!" Umbridge made to slap Harry. However, she found herself looking down six wands.

"You're done Dolores. I'm handing you over to an Auror."

"I won't be put in prison."

"Scrimgeour can't save you. This is an overtly harmful act against a student."

"He signed off on it," she said smugly.

Sprout and Flitwick gasped.

"I doubt he'll admit to it, especially when the public learns on whom you've used the blood quill."

A knock at the door interrupted whatever Umbridge was going to say next. A man that he had vaguely remembered being in the Order entered the room. "Harry, go with Auror Shacklebolt and Madam Pomphrey to fill out some forms. After she releases you, you may head to the kitchens to get something else to eat if you're still hungry before your detention with Professor Snape."

Harry nodded and headed off to a side room to fill out some forms.

Later that evening, Harry entered the classroom for his detention. He felt slightly awkward after his conversation with Snape earlier.

"If you wish, you may begin catching up on your homework."

Harry's eyes widened.

"Unless of course you really want to clean cauldrons'."

Harry blinked and headed toward one of the table's. When he sat down, he realized he didn't have any of his stuff. He didn't normally carry his book bag to detention. He automatically stood back up and headed to the dirty cauldrons in the corner of the room.

"Here, Potter. You may use these."

Harry looked up and saw concern in Snape's eyes as he handed over a spare book and some parchment. "Thank you, sir."

"How far behind in your classes are you?"

Harry sighed. "It's like I said earlier. I think I'm failing everything. I don't think I could tell you the first thing I've learned this year." He subconsciously rubbed his glamoured hand. It still stung.

Snape went over to the potion's cupboard and pulled out a bottle. "Here. Tonight, before you go to sleep, put your hand in this. It won't remove the scar, but it will help with the pain."

"Is that Essence of Murtlap?"

Snape nodded, clearly surprised.

"I've been using that every night for nearly a month. I still have enough left over in my dorm to last for a couple of day's."

Before Snape could turn around, Harry clearly saw approval in his eyes.

After detention was over, he headed back to Gryffindor Tower. There, he grabbed his Charm's book and notes and started from the beginning of the year, trying to catch up. Perhaps an hour had passed when the Fat Lady's portrait opened.

"Potter?"

Harry looked up and saw McGonagall beckoning him to come in the hallway.

In the hallway, Harry saw Sirius. "They told you," he said flatly.

"They did. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it was over and done with. I didn't want you to get upset and do something rash that would get you arrested again."

"Oh, Harry." Sirius pulled Harry into a hug. "It's my job to get upset over you."

Harry returned Sirius' hug.

"You should be pleased with who your new defense teacher is going to be though."

"Who?"

"Remus."

"Really?"

Sirius nodded.

"Awesome. We might actually learn something now."

Sirius snickered. Remus had been at Grimmauld Place when Albus had arrived and basically told the man that he was going to teach. He then left before Remus could protest. "Do you need anything before I head home?"

"Just more hours in the day to get caught up on all of my homework. I'm failing everything."

Sirius frowned. "You should have time now. I love you kidd-o."

"I love you too, Sirius."

Harry then returned to his friends in the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

Sirius stared at the portrait of the Fat Lady as his godson went back inside the tower. He still seemed disaffected, which was _not_ a good thing. Harry was clearly using homework as a distraction.

'Maybe I can do something about that later,' he mused to himself.

However, he had something else to take care of first. Turning from the portrait, he swallowed all of his pride and headed down to the dungeons to talk to Snape. Umbridge had to pay for what she had done to Harry, and Snape had the means to help him exact his revenge.

Death would be too good for her. No. If he had his way, she would suffer for the rest of her life. It was just a matter of convincing Snape to help and then managing to keep it from Harry. He knew that Harry would be upset with him for doing anything to her. Maybe Snape could help with that too.

He had been about to knock on the man's door to his quarter's when it jerked open. "Get in here. I don't have all day."

Shocked, Sirius walked in the room. After the door was shut and before he could say anything, Snape spoke again.

"I need your assistance for dealing with Umbridge. Are you interested?"

Sirius grinned, nodded, and walked further into the man's quarters.

* * *

A/N: Look! It's a bonding moment! *nods* And Umbridge is now gone. And would you look at that? Sirius and Snape are in a room together not killing each other. *gins* It's progress! We're getting closer and closer to the big reveal. I can tell you all that it's before chapter 100. As for Remus coming back to teach, if you all remember in my version of the third book, Snape never revealed him as being a werewolf.

Up next, Halloween and Quidditch. I should have it posted on Friday.

*set's out a nice big steak dinner to lure review's* =)

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Weekend.


	92. The Calm Before

Disclaimer: I still don't own HP or any char thereof!

* * *

Chapter 92

* * *

_Dolores Umbridge was arrested yesterday at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the use of a blood quill. However, before she could be brought to the Ministry, she had taken ill and had to be rushed to St. Mungo's. The doctor's would not comment on what was wrong with her, only saying that she would be staying there for a while. The Ministry would not release the name of the student on whom the blood quill was used, but Madam Bones assured us that Ms. Umbridge would stand trial for use of the illegal object once she was fit enough to be released from the hospital._

Harry ran his hands through his hair as he re-read the tiny article hidden in the middle of the Daily Prophet. He never would have seen it had Hermione not pointed it out. Clearly this was the minister's way of keeping what Umbridge had done quiet. He glanced at the head table and saw that nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, other than a few teacher's smiling.

'I just hope Sirius didn't do anything stupid,' he thought as he shoved the paper in his book bag.

Harry looked back up at the Head table in time to see Remus walk in and sit down, which prompted Dumbledore to stand up. "As many of you no doubt know, Professor Umbridge is no longer with us."

Most of the student body cheered, which caused Dumbledore's lips to twitch slightly.

"Therefore, I have brought back Professor Lupin to finish teaching for the remainder of the year."

Harry, along with his friends clapped the hardest for Remus.

"We might actually learn something now," said Hermione, very excited.

Harry laughed.

"Did you know about this?" asked Ron.

"Yeah. Sirius told me last night. I wanted it to be a surprise."

His friends just grinned at him.

* * *

Harry was exhausted. He just failed a charms exam which put him in a foul mood. And to make matter's worse, Hermione was nagging him about why he had failed.

"Because I've not had time to study," he finally snapped. He then walked ahead of both of his friends. He wanted nothing more than to take a nap. He wasn't even hungry enough to go to dinner.

So when Angelina ambushed him the second he walked into the common room about Quidditch, he was about ready to blow someone or something up.

"That's not fair Angelina. Ginny tried out and made seeker. You can't strip her of the position and give it back to me just because I'm allowed to play Quidditch again. It's not fair to her."

"But you're the better seeker."

"She's right, Harry. You're loads better than me," piped in Ginny.

"But I don't have the grades to be on the team. I'm failing _everything_."

"McGonagall will make an exception. She knows how Umbridge was."

"I'm tired of exceptions being made for me because I'm Harry Bloody Potter."

"Don't you want to play again?" asked Ron carefully from his position in the corner of the room. Clearly he was trying to avoid his temper.

"Of course I do, but Ginny tried out and made it. I'm behind in all of my classes. Let her play the first game ... then, I dunno. Maybe her and I can have a fly-off for the second game to see who plays for it."

Ginny looked at him grimly then looked over at Angelina. "Angelina, I quit." She then bounced off before anyone could say anything.

"Now you _have_ to play, Harry. We don't have anyone now."

Harry huffed. "Fine."

Angelina grinned. "Excellent. Practice is in an hour."

Harry shook his head in disgust, realizing how badly he had just been played.

* * *

A couple of days later found Harry enjoying the Halloween feast. "The food is really good," he said.

Ron nodded, much to the relief of those nearby. His mouth was full of food.

As Harry reached for more mashed potatoes, his vision and hearing dimmed. As a reaction, he slammed his occlumency shields up.

"Harry?"

He tuned out Hermione and pushed his shields up even higher. As he did this, he realized that Voldemort was pleased over something. Very pleased.

Once he was sure his shields were up and strong, he looked up to see his friends looking at him - all with worried expressions.

"Harry, are you alright?"

He nodded and reached for something to drink. If Voldemort was pleased, it certainly didn't mean anything good for the good guys. He would need to tell Dumbledore after the feast.

The next morning, the Headline of the Daily Prophet startled everyone.

**Mass Break-Out of Azkaban!**

Harry read the article and shook his head in disbelief. They were crediting Pettigrew for the breakout rather than admit it was Voldemort.

"Is the Ministry this stupid?" hissed Harry as he perused the article.

Ron gave him an incredulous look that Harry snickered at.

He then looked over and saw Neville. The boy was pale and glaring at the pictures of the now free Death Eater's. He leaned over to whisper in Neville's ear, "I'm sure the Auror's will catch them soon."

"I'm going up to the dorm," he said quietly. "I don't feel good."

Harry nodded with understanding. "I'll come up to check on you later." Neville had confided in him last year that the Lestranges had tortured his parents into insanity during the first war.

"Where's Neville going?" asked Ron.

"Back to bed. Doesn't feel well," said Harry as he watched Neville leave the Great Hall.

* * *

The castle was abuzz for several days about the breakout. Sometimes it could get eerily quiet as everyone was whispering about what the breakout could mean. Other times it felt like everything was back to normal.

There had even been some fears about them canceling Quidditch.

That was an unfounded fear though. The teacher's thought that the students could use a distraction.

Thus, Harry was currently looking around the pitch for the golden snitch. If he hadn't seen it released, he'd have wondered about it because the game had started four hours ago.

He winced as Ron missed another save and allowed Slytherin to score again.

The score was Gryffindor 90, Slytherin 70.

And then it began to rain.

"Bloody marvelous," muttered Harry.

He dove away from a stray bludger.

As Harry glanced around the stands to see if the snitch was there, he saw Sirius and Remus. There were also various order members he noted absently. He didn't know them by name, just by sight.

"Slytherin 80!"

Harry groaned.

As he dodged another bludger, he finally saw it.

Harry immediately dove for it.

"Harry Potter has seen the snitch!"

And then he felt both bludger's slam into him. They didn't hurt him, merely stunned him, but it had served it's purpose.

He had lost sight of the snitch.

"Gryffindor scores!"

* * *

Severus watched as Potter circled the pitch. It had been a while since a game had lasted this long.

Across the way he saw Black and Lupin in the parent section of the stands.

It pained him that he could not openly cheer for his son, but he took some solace in the fact that he has someone who can now - even if it is the mutt.

Pain suddenly flared in his left forearm from a summons. He caught Albus' eye to let him know and headed to the castle to get his Death Eater robes and the Dark Lord's potions.

* * *

"Nice save by the Gryffindor Keeper!" announced Lee Jordan.

As Harry cheered, he saw the snitch again. He immediately pushed himself into the broom and flew toward it.

He managed to dodge two bludgers but he could tell that Malfoy was still on his tail.

Harry heard one of the Slytherin's yell, "Stop him!"

Using a defensive maneuver he had just learned, he dodged a spell and closed his hands around the snitch at the same time.

The Gryffindor's cheered as his team mates rushed to meet him in the air.

When he landed, he was pulled into a hug by Sirius and Remus.

"You'd have made your dad proud with some of those moves, Harry."

Harry grinned.

* * *

"As you wish, my Lord. They will be ready within a week." Severus bowed his head and after being dismissed, left the Dark Lord's Headquarter's. On his way out of the door, he saw the newly released Bellatrix lurking in the shadows watching him. With a slight nod at her, he continued his way through the house to the disapparation point.

Once he was back in his quarter's, he headed to his personal lab to get started on brewing the Dark Lord's requests, most of which involved potions to help the Death Eater's that had been in Azkaban regain their strength.

A couple hours had passed when he finally went to his office to catch up on his grading.

Eventually he got to Potter's essay. Now that Umbridge was gone, the boy was finally starting to get caught up on his homework but it was easy to tell that he was still behind in his studying. He had discreetly asked around and discovered that Harry was indeed failing everything. Flitwick had been in near tear's because of it.

A knock at the door made him look up. "Enter."

The Headmaster came in the room and erected privacy barriers. "What did Tom want?"

"Potions." Severus handed over the list.

"Healing potions, I see. When are you going to tell him the truth?" asked Albus for the 10th time in three day's as he looked over the list.

"How are his shields?"

"They are still strong," replied the Headmaster without looking up from the piece of paper.

"Should I really tell him now? After all this? I'm afraid the truth will destroy him, especially after this Umbridge fiasco."

"You should. It's eating away at you that you can't be there for him. You deserve your son Severus. The longer you wait, the bigger the chance that someone will end up hurt."

Severus looked away but nodded.

Unfortunately, the Headmaster had not been the only one to pester him about telling Harry either.

Remus had cornered him after having been at the castle less than 48 hours about when he was going to tell Harry the truth.

Maybe he would do it this weekend.

* * *

"Mr. Potter and Ms. Bones, since you worked so well together last year, you two can work on this plant."

Harry grimaced at the plant that was taller than he was.

"What is it?" asked Harry to Susan as she moved her belongings next to him.

"I have no idea."

"Essay's due two weeks from now, along with a presentation."

Harry picked up his Herbology book and started flipping through it.

They looked through their books for most of the class when Harry said, "squeeze the left tentacle."

"No. I'm not crazy," she said giving him a funny look.

Harry made a face at her so he got up and squeezed it. The plant started flailing it's leaves around. "Nope. Not that then."

Susan just laughed.

By the end of class, they had discovered that it was a Catulus Plant.

"This plant cures dragon pox?" asked Harry.

"That's what the book says."

They worked right up until the bell rang. The Hufflepuffs had defense with the Gryffindor's so Harry and Susan kept talking about their project as they walked to class.

Now that Remus was teaching again, they were actually learning stuff. In fact, in the two weeks since Umbridge had left, they had learned more than all of last year combined. After class, he made plans with Susan to work on their project this weekend.

* * *

Harry was currently engrossed in a book titled Skin Magic in the Founder's Library when Nick appeared in front of him.

"How are you doing Harry?"

"Pretty good, now that the toad is gone and I'm almost caught up on my homework. You?"

"Upset that I was denied _again_ to join the Headless Hunt."

"It's their loss Nick," said Harry honestly.

Nick smiled at him. "I came down here because Professor McGonagall is looking for you. She has your godfather with her."

Harry cast a quick '_tempus'. _It was a little after 8 a.m. on Saturday. He knew that his dorm mates would be asleep for a while and he wasn't supposed to meet Susan until around 3 that afternoon, so he had snuck down when he woke up at 6 that morning. "Thanks Nick! I'm sorry you had to take time to find me though."

"Oh, I knew where you were and they didn't ask me to come look for you, but Sirius has already been up to the tower and knows that you're not there."

Harry groaned and after marking his place in the book, set it back on the table so that he could continue reading it later.

He then made a quick dash to the kitchens to ask for a muffin and some juice before heading back to the Tower.

"There you are, Mr. Potter!"

Harry jumped. He hadn't heard McGonagall approaching. "We're you looking for me ma'am?" he tried to ask innocently.

"Your godfather is here. I think he and Professor Lupin were going to take you out for the day and spend some time with you."

"They're allowed to do that?"

McGonagall looked at him funny. "This is a school Mr. Potter, not a prison. Of course they can take you out for a weekend if they wish too."

"Where is Sirius?"

"Right here kidd-o. Where have you been?"

"Library and kitchen," said Harry. "I woke up early and knew that Ron and Neville would sleep until almost noon."

"Normal teenager's do that," said Sirius in jest.

"Yeah, yeah, we all know I'm not normal. Now ... Professor McGonagall said something about you springing me from this prison?"

Sirius laughed as McGonagall harumphed and walked away. "C'mon. Remus told me how you've been working hard to get caught up in your classes and I thought you needed a break from all that hard work, plus some fresh air will do you some good."

Harry made a face. "Where are we going?"

"I figured we'd go to Diagon Alley for some food and some light shopping. Of course, we'll have to disguise you a little, but that's no problem."

"Work's for me," said Harry rather cheerfully, causing Sirius to squint at him. "I'll run up to the dorm to leave a note for Ron and Neville and be back down in a couple of minutes." In the note, he asked them to tell Susan that he would probably be gone for most of the day, that he would hunt her down when he came back.

The trip to Diagon Alley had been exactly what Harry needed to relax. He was still on guard, of course, and had become upset when he realized that no one was taking Voldemort's return seriously (stupid, idiotic ministry), but he hadn't felt this relaxed in a while.

At one point, Sirius and Remus had wanted to see how Harry's scar was healing, so he had removed the glamour long enough to show them. There was still a scab over the words, but it was slowly going away. He could already tell that when the scab left, the words would still be visible on his hand.

As they were returning to the castle, Sirius looked down at Harry and grinned. "Want me to spring you again next weekend?"

"Sure!" said Harry eagerly. "I love you."

"I love you too, Harry." Suddenly Sirius snapped his finger's and Harry's hair turned gold.

"AH!"

Sirius then laughed before apparating away.

He turned to scowl at Remus. "Tell me you can fix this?"

"I can," he said as he started walking up to the castle.

"Remus!"

Remus laughed but never stopped walking.

"I'll use those pranks in the book you all gave me in your class on Monday!"

"Which one?"

"The one that causes the teacher's hair to fall out," said Harry as he grinned mischievously.

"You wouldn't?"

"I would," said Harry as they entered the castle.

Remus made a face. "You know, gold hair doesn't suit you very well." Remus snapped his finger's and Harry's hair turned green. He then strode away laughing.

Harry just stood slack jawed in the hallway.

"Going for a new look, Potter?" asked Malfoy a minute later.

Harry just scowled and stalked away from the blonde. He would get Remus and Sirius back for this when neither were expecting it.

As soon as his house mates saw him, most had burst out laughing, especially Ron. "How would _you_ like green hair?" asked Harry with a glint in his eyes.

"You wouldn't!"

"Watch me," he replied with a smirk.

The next morning, at breakfast, when everyone had bitten into a muffin, a wide variety of hair color's starting popping up amongst the houses.

So for the next two days, everyone walked around with colored hair (which is when the prank wore off), including Lupin. He was sporting a lovely shade of bright pink. (Harry hadn't felt brave enough to prank the rest of the Professor's, so it was only Lupin that got hit.)

* * *

_November 17, 1995_

_I'm slowly starting to get caught up on 2 month's worth of homework. Thankfully, with Susan's help, I managed to pass my Herbology test today. _

_I had another occlumency test today. Dumbledore says my shields are still strong. He told me that he was proud of me for how quickly I applied myself to study it. After the holiday's he agreed to share the full prophecy with me._

_Snape has been looking at me funny again. Hopefully this mean's he's going to tell me the big secret soon. While I'm curious, I figure that if it would have been majorly important, he would have already spit it out._

_I tried using a scar removing potion on my hand today. It didn't work. I didn't figure it would since Snape said that I would always have the scar but at least I can say I tried._

_Hermione confronted me today about where I learned to do such a complicated glamour on my hand (she saw me apply it). Evidently it's a 6__th__ year spell. She's starting to get suspicious that I'm smarter than I've been letting on._

_Sometimes I hate being so different._

_-Harry_

_

* * *

_Harry was walking toward Remus' office. He was to going to walk Harry down to the front gate to meet Sirius. As he was walking, he rounded the corner and literally ran into Cho.

"Sorry Cho. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"It's alright," she said with a slight smile. "Where are you off to?"

"Professor Lupin's office."

"You have detention?"

Harry smiled. "No, thank goodness."

Cho placed a hand on his arm briefly and smiled. "I'm off to Quidditch Practice. Maybe I'll see you later?"

"Sure," stuttered out Harry. 'Great time for the stutter to return,' he thought as he finished his trek to Lupin's office.

* * *

"Hi Sirius!" Harry said as he greeted his godfather at the gates of Hogwarts twenty minutes later.

"I hear you picked up a couple new girlfriends since last weekend."

"What?" Harry asked while turning red. "I don't have any girlfriends!" He then turned to scowl at Professor Lupin.

"Honestly Sirius. Could you have been any blunter?"

"Nonsense. Harry's a strapping young lad of 25! He's allowed to have as many girlfriends as he wants."

"I'm 15 Sirius."

"Hmm ... Fifteen. I guess that means that it's time for the birds and bee's discussion."

"The birds and ...? Oh. No. Sirius. Please. You don't have to." He could not have this conversation again, especially after the embarrassment that he had felt after Snape had given it to him.

"Nonsense. Do you know when your mom told your dad she was pregnant with you, he asked _how_ that was possible. So I'm going to give you the same talk I did to him then, except he had a lot more witnesses."

"Oh, Sirius. You really don't have too," assured Harry.

"Yes I do."

He pleaded silently for Lupin to help him but Lupin was too busy laughing to be of any help.

So Harry received "the talk" again as they made their way through Hogsmeade village before apparating to the Leaky Cauldron to go to Diagon Alley.

* * *

"So Harry. Do you know what you want to do after you graduate?" asked Sirius as they walked toward Ollivander's together. He needed a refill kit for his wand servicing kit. Thankfully "the talk" hadn't lasted long. Harry was still flustered because of it. Sirius had gone into extreme details.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. Becoming an Auror will help me fight against Voldemort but surely he can't hang around forever."

"Well, what are you good at?"

"Defense, potions, charms, and ancient runes are fairly easy, especially now that I'm caught up in my homework on them again."

"You'll need transfiguration and herbology N.E.W.T.'s as well to become an Auror."

"I'm lousy at Transfiguration. I'm surprised McGonagall hasn't booted me out yet. Herbology's not too bad. Neville helps me a lot."

"Hmm."

"Professor Lupin said mom got her masteries in potions and charms. What was she going to do with them?"

"She considered teaching for a while."

"Really?"

"Her and James also talked about letting Lily run a side business of selling potions after you had grown some. She was a natural at it."

Harry smiled.

"Have you thought about playing Quidditch professionally?"

"The thought has crossed my mind," said Harry ruefully. "I just don't know."

"Well, hopefully you'll do well on your O.W.L's and your N.E.W.T's and then you can be anything you want to be."

Harry smiled as they approached the wand-maker's shop. That sounded good to him.

* * *

They were leaving the pet store talking about the prank that Harry had done on the entire school plus Lupin.

"It was so funny, Sirius."

"How did you get it in the muffin's?" asked Sirius curiously.

Harry grinned. "I was able to access the muffin's right as they came out of the oven."

Sirius ruffled Harry's hair while laughing. "I knew we should have made friends with the elves while we had been at school. Let's go get some food before I take you back to the castle."

At the gates of Hogwarts a couple hours later, Harry hugged his godfather goodbye.

"Thanks Sirius."

"Maybe I'll spring you in a couple of weekends."

"Why not next weekend?"

"Because it's a Hogsmeade weekend. I wouldn't want your friends to start sending me howler's because I'm suddenly stealing your free time from you. Plus, you need to keep your girl's happy."

"I don't have a girlfriend," protested Harry again.

"Whatever you say Harry," said Sirius grinning. "Besides, I have plans this upcoming weekend. So weekend after next?"

Harry nodded. "I'd like that. I love you Sirius."

"I love you too kidd-o."

Harry then trekked up to the castle. Even the slight drizzle that had started couldn't dampen his spirits.

* * *

Severus was brewing in his personal labs when there was a knock at the door. He quickly got up to answer it. "Can I help you Albus?"

The Headmaster entered. "Do you have any of my lemon drops?"

"You did not trek all the way down here just to ask me if I had any of your blasted candies."

"I did partly. Minerva's mad at me and took away the bag I had in my quarter's."

"What did you do?"

Severus was amused to see the great Albus Dumbledore blush. He was going to have to talk to Minerva. This was too good to pass up.

"Never you mind. Now, do you?"

"No Albus, I don't. Filius eats the things, he might have some. Now what else can I help you with?"

"I got that potion you wanted me to order."

"Good. I've almost finished mine to where it won't work against the potion Lily used and the blood adoption James performed."

"Have you ever thought of simply reversing Lily's potion?"

"Oh, that would go over well. 'Here Potter. Drink this. You'll have a nice surprise when you wake up," he said sarcastically.

"Quit being so dramatic Severus. I meant after you tell Harry the truth of course."

"There's no guarantee that the reversal will fix his eyesight since he obviously got his poor eyesight from Potter's blood adoption. I have perfect vision and so did Lily."

"And if Harry wanted you to brew the potion, would you?"

"I don't see why he would. I fully expect him to offer me up to the Dark Lord personally to be honest."

Albus chided him as he threw away the potion he had ordered. It had been ordered solely for the purpose of creating a paper trail that wouldn't lead back to Severus.

As the Headmaster made to leave the room Severus stopped him. "Before you leave Albus, I was wondering if you would do me a favor?"

"Certainly."

Severus disappeared into his bedroom and came out a few minutes later. "Kindly deliver this to Black when you see him next."

"Is this what I think it is?"

Severus nodded.

Albus' eyes had so much light in them a person could have seen in the dark. "When?"

"As soon as Black confronts me about it's contents - which I imagine will not be long after you hand him the letter."

"I do believe that I will need to be present when this conversation takes place. The castle does not need blowing up."

Severus merely shrugged. "As you wish."

* * *

A/N: This was originally two chapters, but I figured I'd combine them and give you a long one - which is the reason that it's posted a couple days after I said it would be. I wanted to give Harry a bit of normalcy before ... well ... you'll see. *shifty* The good news that comes out of combining these two chapters is that everyone is closer to Harry being told the truth!

And if anyone is curious about that letter ... Lily put a letter in the photo album for Severus to give to Sirius explaining the truth to him. Severus figures that once Sirius confronts him about the truth, then there won't really be any reason to not tell Harry the truth.

Up next ... my death sentence I imagine. *builds a fort around myself* Gonna aim for a Sat/Sun posting. *leaves out steak dinners for the reviewers!*


	93. Darkened Skies

Disclaimer: All the usual's. I don't own HP or anyone else. I just like to play with them.

*Sneaks in, leaves the chapter, and sneaks away to hide*

* * *

Chapter 93

* * *

"Harry!"

Harry tripped over his own feet, which made him slam into one of the suits of armor in the hall. 'Bloody Hell,' he thought as he picked himself up. He looked up to see Hermione and Ron snickering at him and Susan rushing forward.

"Oh, Harry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Harry sighed. This was all Sirius' fault. Lupins' too for that matter. "You didn't startle me. Just my own clumsiness. What did you need?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second."

"Sure." He then turned to his two _still_ snickering best friends. "Go on. I'll be there in a minute."

"Why are you avoiding me?" she blurted out once Ron and Hermione were out of ear shot.

Harry stiffened. He was seriously going to have to learn how to be subtle about things it seems. "I'm not. I've just been busy studying. Now that I'm caught up, I don't want to fall behind again, especially since this is our O.W.L. year."

"So I've not done anything wrong?"

Harry smiled. "No. Not a thing."

"Alright. I just wanted to make sure you weren't mad at me for something."

"I'm not mad at you at all, Susan."

"Susan! There you are. We're going to be late for Potions."

"I'm coming. See you later, Harry."

"Bye." Harry watched her walk away and groaned. Yes. This was all Sirius' fault, and he would get him back for it.

* * *

Harry fidgeted in the room, waiting on the rest of his classmates to leave. Once they were gone, he approached Remus. "Professor Lupin, do you have a minute?"

"Certainly Harry. What is it?"

"Have you talked to Sirius since Sunday?"

"No. Why?"

"I've tried calling him on the mirror a couple of times and he's not answered me."

To Harry's surprise, Remus flushed. "Sirius ... has a lady friend he's been seeing for about a month now."

Harry's eyes bugged out. "Why hasn't he said anything?"

"Because he wanted to make sure she was someone who was going to stick around for a while."

Harry frowned. "Did he think I would get upset?"

"I think it was the fact that you and he were still getting used to the family thing. He didn't want to upset that."

Harry chuckled. "And here I thought that you two were ... uh ... together and you just didn't want to tell me."

Remus choked. "While it's not uncommon in our world, or the muggle world for that matter, I assure you that Sirius and I are just friends."

Harry's cheeks turned red. "I uh ... better go to lunch."

Remus laughed. "If you've not heard from him by Friday, let me know and I'll hunt him down for you."

Harry nodded.

* * *

Thursday morning found Severus in the Headmaster's office.

"Have you given that letter to Black yet?"

"No. I can't seem to locate him. Remus told me that he has begun seeing a woman, but I can't locate her either."

Severus rubbed his temples. "Please tell me that Black has not ran off and gotten married without telling Harry?"

At that, Albus laughed. "Has Sirius ever seemed to be the marrying type to you?"

"Good point. Where is he then? Just off sowing his wild oats while he can? To make up for lost time spent in Azkaban?"

"I have no idea. If he's not heard from by tomorrow evening, Remus and I are going to go look for him."

Severus nodded.

Around 2am on Friday morning, two different people had similar reactions.

Harry sat straight up in bed. He looked around the room but didn't see anything that would have caused him to wake up. His occlumency shields were up so it wasn't Voldemort. He frowned. He felt like something was missing. It was an odd feeling.

Confused, he laid back down to try to figure it out, not going back to sleep at all that night.

In the Headmaster's quarters, Albus sat straight up in bed the same time that Harry had.

"No!" he exclaimed. He quickly got dressed and headed for the floo network.

* * *

"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Hermione on their way to breakfast.

"I don't know," he said. "I feel odd."

"Odd ... like you need to go see Madam Pomphrey? Or odd like you need to go see the Headmaster?"

"Neither. Just odd."

As the owls flew in for morning mail call, Harry eyed the staff table. Dumbledore wasn't present.

A strange owl then landed in front of him with a package tied to its' leg. He frowned because he didn't recognize it.

However, the note vaguely reminded Harry of Sirius' handwriting.

'_I thought you might like to have this.'_

Harry smiled slightly. Maybe Sirius had sent him something from this mini-vacation he went on. However when he opened the box, he sucked in a breath of horror and jumped away from the table and screamed.

"NO!"

He then took off racing out of the Great Hall.

Ron opened the package that had closed when Harry had jumped up from the table and turned visibly green from its contents. "Neville. Take this to McGonagall. Don't open it." He then took off after Harry. Hermione followed Ron, confused. She hadn't seen what was in the box.

* * *

Severus was currently beside himself with worry because Harry had just taken off at a full tilt run from the Great Hall.

The morning had started off routine enough. The first sign of a trouble, at least in his mind, was when the Headmaster was not at breakfast and Minerva had no idea where he was. As he placed some eggs on his plate, he saw his son enter the Great Hall with Granger and Weasley.

The second sign of trouble was when he realized how pale the boy was, as if there was something wrong. Harry had potions that afternoon, he was sure he could manufacture a reason for him to stay after to class to see if he was well.

Mail came in at the same time he took a drink of his coffee - which he almost spit back out the second he saw the Dark Lord's owl fly in with the other ones. He watched with narrowed eyes as it circled over head with its package. He then stiffened when it dropped its' parcel in front of Harry and flew back out of the owl holes.

'Cover be damned,' he thought as he went to stand up. He could _not_ let Harry open _anything_ sent by the Dark Lord. However, before he could even stand, his son had already opened the box. He saw the absolute horror on his face. Even from where Severus sat, he could see whatever shred of innocence the boy had always managed to maintain leave through his eyes.

His hand automatically flew up to the order pendant that was invisible around his neck and called for Albus.

He watched as Harry fled the Great Hall. He turned to tell Lupin to follow him, but there was no need. The wolf was already out of his seat and circling the table.

Severus watched with impassive eyes as Longbottom brought the box to McGonagall. He looked over her shoulder and felt the life drain out of him.

Inside, lying in a pool of dried blood - with eyes wide open, was the decapitated head of Sirius Black.

* * *

Harry apparated to the front step's of Grimmauld Place and rushed in.

"Sirius!"

"Sirius!"

"Sirius!"

When Harry reached Sirius' bedroom and saw that it was empty, he felt something inside of him snap. He fell against the wall and slid down to the floor.

And for the first time in as long as he could remember, Harry cried.

* * *

"We can't find him professor," said Ron as he rushed up to McGonagall.

McGonagall sighed. All of her location spells had fizzled out as well. She had been hoping his friends would have known where he went. "I know it's hard, especially since you looked in the box Weasley, but I need you, Ms. Granger, and Mr. Longbottom to go on to class."

"But professor," protested all of the students.

"It's my final word. I need to let the Headmaster know. I'm sure he will know where Potter is."

After much more protesting, they all headed toward their first class but by that time, everyone knew what had been in that box and was talking about it.

Severus watched from the shadows as Granger, Longbottom, and Weasley argued about wanting to continue the search. The boy must have left the grounds and apparated somewhere. He frowned. For some reason, he couldn't think of anywhere the boy might have gone - but he _should_ know.

After the trio of students headed toward their first class, he unmelded himself from the shadows and headed down to his own class. He would have liked nothing more than to join the search, but knew that he was needed here. He just prayed that Albus and Lupin would be able to find Harry and offer some measure of comfort to the boy because he could not do so himself.

* * *

"Harry?"

"Sirius?" Harry's head snapped up.

"No." The Headmaster came around the corner. "I'm so sorry."

"It's true then?"

The Headmaster conjured a handkerchief and handed it over to Harry. "It is."

"This morning, around two, I woke up suddenly and I've felt off all morning. I think that's when he did it. When he ki ... killed Sirius." Harry wiped his eyes.

"I also felt it Harry. Where I was the secret keeper for the house, I felt the ward break. I came here and searched as well but didn't find him. I was out trying to locate his trail when I received word of what happened this morning at breakfast. I am so sorry, my boy."

Harry forcefully stopped his tears. "Did I allow this to happen?"

"No. This is not your fault. It's Voldemort's fault."

"Could I have prevented this if I didn't know occlumency?"

Albus pulled Harry up to sit next to him on the bed. "No Harry. You want to keep your shields up. Do not think like that. Sirius wouldn't have wanted you too."

"Where was Snape during this? Why didn't he know about this? Or did he? I know he and Sirius hated each other! Why didn't he stop this?"

* * *

A/N: There will be NO maiming, killing, torturing, or abusing the author! Put down your pitch forks!

Ok ... so I procrastinated posting this chapter because I knew that people were going to want to murder me. I'm sorry about Sirius, but I had planned all along, even when I first made my original outline for the stories premises, that Sirius was going to have to die.

The next chapter is fairly long. It's probably going to be a week and a half before I post it. I'm still editing it. It will explain though why Snape couldn't remember the address of Grimmauld Place. And if I keep it in the current chapter and don't move it ahead, Harry punches Snape at one point too! *grins*


	94. The Storm

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or any of the other character's! I just like to play with them!

* * *

Chapter 94

* * *

Severus was a nervous wreck, not that anyone looking at him would know that. An hour after Harry had stormed out of the Great Hall, a note had been delivered saying that he had been found.

Which was all it had said.

Which led to Severus being frustrated - mainly because he could not help his son.

The Headmaster had not appeared all throughout lunch and rumor's ran rampant about where Harry had gone. A glance at the Gryffindor table told him that his best friends were in tatters'. Weasley wasn't even eating.

As he stood up, he hissed silently. He was being summoned.

"Minerva, I'll be out of the castle for a while. Can you post for my afternoon 2nd years to read chapter 24 and write a 2-foot essay on what they learned and for my 5th years to read chapters' 84 and 85 and write a 4-foot essay on the properties of snake venom in healing potions?"

She glanced down at his left arm and nodded. "Of course, Severus. Stay safe," she added in a whisper to him.

He nodded and strode off to his quarter's so that he could retrieve his Death Eater mask and robe.

Once he apparated to where the summons had taken him, he headed in the direction of the throne room.

"I'm bored, my Lord. That was the most fun I'd had in ages. Can we play with some muggles tonight?"

"Not yet, Bella. Soon we will make our presence known. Be patient a little while longer. I promise it will be worth it."

Severus shuddered at the Dark Lord's tone then knocked on the door.

"Enter."

He entered and knelt at the Dark Lord's feet.

"Rise, Severus. Tell me, did anything of interest happen at Hogwarts today?"

"Potter received Sirius Black's head in a box."

"And how did Itty Bitty Potter like my present to him?"

Severus sneered at Bellatrix. "Not very well. He ran out of the Great Hall screaming."

"Let me see it Severus," demanded Voldemort.

Severus allowed the Dark Lord into his mind to see the memory of Potter running out of the Great Hall.

"Excellent. The old fool?"

"He was contacted and went to look for his precious golden boy," spat Snape.

"What's wrong Severus?" The Dark Lord got up from his throne and circled him.

"I am disappointed that I didn't get to take part in his torture, my Lord. Black tormented me almost every single day during out school years together. Now I will never be able to take my own revenge out on him."

"You will have to take that up with Bella. She insisted she get to play after he was captured. Once I realized he didn't have anything useful to tell me, I let her have him."

"My Lord knows best." Severus bowed again. "Since I had no warning that this was going to happen, I'm afraid the Headmaster is not going to be pleased with me. He'll think I'm losing your favor, my Lord. If that is so, tell me how I can earn your trust again."

"Severus, you have never lost my trust. In some ways, I trust you more than Lucius. _You_ have never failed me."

"He's not on our side, my Lord," hissed Bellatrix from the corner she had placed herself in. "That's why I told you not to tell him before hand. He would have found some way to rescue the mutt for his precious Order."

"_CRUCIO!" _After a minute the Dark Lord let the curse up. "Leave Bella. I'll deal with you later - and trust me when I say you won't like it."

After she slunk out of the room, Voldemort offered Severus a chair. "I need to run something by you. I would not normally keep you on a week day because of your position in the school, but it's important."

"Yes, my Lord." Severus sat down in the pro-offered chair. 'Of all the days for him to want to talk to me,' he thought in the deep recesses of his mind.

* * *

It was around 8pm before Severus could return to the castle. He headed straight to the Headmaster's office.

"He's fine. Remus is with him," Albus said as soon as the door had been shut.

"Bella's handiwork. The Dark Lord said that they captured him for information as well as the fact that his death would destroy Harry. The woman Black had been seeing is dead as well. From my understanding, she was innocent - just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Where did you find him?"

Albus handed Severus a note telling him of Grimmauld Place. "He had arrived there _after_ I had replaced the charm."

"Black left him the house then."

"It seems that way. Severus ... you should know that Harry is blaming you for Sirius' death."

"Me?"

"He thinks you should have known about Sirius being captured and tried to rescue him."

"Albus, I didn't know."

"I'm aware of that Severus. He's just hurting and is looking for someone to blame."

Severus simply turned away. This was going to seriously complicate things.

"You need to go talk to him."

"I'm not telling him the truth hours after he lost his godfather!"

"No. Not that. You need to go explain to him that you didn't know Sirius had been captured. This hate he feels cannot be allowed to fester."

"I'm not sure I know how to console anyone."

"The words will come. You may use my floo."

He merely sighed. "I'll leave a copy of the memory of the meeting I just came from for you to look through while I go talk to him."

"That will be fine."

* * *

Harry was sitting in front of the fireplace staring at the flames when they flared higher for a brief second indicating that someone was about to step through. He glanced at Remus who shrugged.

Dumbledore had explained that as soon as Sirius had died that morning, all of the people that had been let in on the secret, had in turn became Secret Keepers. To keep the address from inadvertently being given out, he had replaced the charm. That meant that everyone had to be retold the address of Grimmauld Place. So at the moment, very few people had access to the house.

Harry's eyes narrowed as he watched Snape step out of the fireplace.

"I don't want to talk to you," said Harry in a darkened voice.

"I'll leave you two alone. I'll be in the next room, Harry," said Remus quietly.

"Potter ... Harry ..."

"Why do you do that? Why do you call me Harry sometimes? It's not like you actually care."

"I do care, a great deal for you."

"You sure didn't show it when I first got to Hogwarts and you didn't show it when you _allowed_ Sirius to die."

"I didn't know he was captured. I had not been summoned in almost two weeks."

"Isn't it your job to know?" sneered Harry.

For a fleeting moment, Severus saw himself in his son and it pained him that it was under the act of anger.

"I ..." Albus was a fool to think he could have done this. "Yes. It is my job to know but I don't know everything. If I would have realized your godfather had been captured by the Dark Lord, I would have given up my own life to free him."

He looked at Snape incredulously. "You hated Sirius!"

The items in the room started vibrating which made Harry take a deep breath to calm himself.

"I loved your mother, very deeply, while we were in school. I had thought he was the reason that she was dead because I was unaware of the secret keeper switch. Add that on top of how he and Potter treated me in school, then yes, I did hate him."

"And you let him die because of it!"

"No. I did not. When I saw how happy he made you, some of my hate abated. I can assure you I've not wanted him dead since I learned of the secret keeper switch."

Harry looked down at the floor. "I still don't know why you care but whatever the reason is, you need to stop. Those that care about me only end up getting hurt."

Before Severus could reply, Harry headed up the stairs. When he looked up, Remus was watching him from the doorway.

"At least he's no longer blaming you," said Remus quietly.

"Now he's blaming himself," said Severus. "How do I fix this Lupin?"

"You be there for him."

"And why would he come to me and not you?"

Remus shrugged. "He's full of surprises."

"He won't want to see me again tonight. When you talk to him later, make sure he does not bottle his emotions up. Tell him he'll turn into me if he does."

Severus then floo'd back to Hogwarts.

* * *

Harry returned to the school late Sunday night to his three best friends.

"We're so sorry, Harry," said Hermione quietly.

"Professor McGonagall said that you get two weeks off to uh ... mourn," said Ron.

Harry shrugged. "I have no where to do that at. I have no one now."

"You have us," said Neville. All three hugged him.

"Are you going to have to go back to the Dursley's?"

"I told Dumbledore that I'd run away before I went back. He said that we need to see what Sirius' will said before he could decide anything."

"When is the will reading?" asked Ron.

"The 23rd, after his memorial service. I'm going to be staying here over break by the way." He took a deep breath. "I just need to forget and move on. I need to go back to normal."

"Harry this isn't something you can just forget. You need to mourn him," said Hermione.

"But it hurts."

Hermione pulled Harry into another hug. "It's supposed to but over time, it will get better. I promise."

Harry forced himself not to cry. "Does everyone know?"

Neville hesitantly nodded.

"I need to go up to my room. I'm sure I have homework to catch up on." Hermione, Ron, and Neville all exchanged worried looks as Harry walked away.

* * *

Three days after returning to the castle, his friends found Harry in the library surrounded by 10 books.

"Mate, come outside with us for a little while. Some fresh air will do you some good."

"I'm busy, Ron," said Harry as he wrote some notes down on a piece of parchment.

"I saw Malfoy out there with his goons. We can charm some snow balls to fly around them all day."

"No time," said Harry as he flipped through a book.

"Come on, Harry. You need to take a break. You're going to work yourself to death," said Hermione.

"I'm fine, guys, honestly. I just don't want to fall behind."

Neither of his best friends could get a word in otherwise.

* * *

"If it wasn't for you, Harry, I'd still be alive."

"I'm sorry, Sirius. I didn't want you to die."

"This is my punishment for getting close to you. It will keep happening over and over again because you're poison to everyone around you."

"No, Sirius. I'm sorry. I love you. I didn't want you to leave me."

"If I'd have known that escaping Azkaban would only lead to my death, I'd have stayed put."

"No. Don't say things like that. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"I'm dead because of you. What a way to show it."

Harry sat straight up in bed. His heart was racing as if he had just run a marathon. A glance at the clock showed him that, yet again, he had only gotten an hour of sleep. He rubbed his eyes, refusing to cry. After he got his bearings, he grabbed some books and headed down to the common room. He was already caught up in his studies for the week so it was time to start learning some curses and hexes. If he was going to get revenge for Sirius, he doubted that he had the knowledge at the moment to carry it out. Now it was time to learn everything he could get his hands on.

* * *

"Harry, would you like to have tea with me after dinner?" asked Remus.

"No, sir. I can't. I've got some stuff to do."

"Harry, you need to talk about Sirius."

"I'm fine, sir," said Harry - his voice emotionless.

"You're not fine. Are you hiding your emotion's behind your occlumency shields?"

"No, sir," said Harry. "I need to go. I have a test in the next class." He then fled before Lupin could stop him.

* * *

Severus eyed the Gryffindor table in frustration. Again, Harry was not present at a meal. In fact, the only places that he had seen the boy was in class and in the library. The next day was a Hogsmeade visit. He hoped that he would go.

"He's not going to," said Lupin.

"What?"

"He's not going tomorrow. I heard Ron and Hermione begging him to go with them tomorrow but he told them no."

"He's hiding behind his shields. It's killing him, Lupin."

"I see it too, but he's not listening to me, nor Albus. The Headmaster tried to talk to him yesterday. He's like a zombie." Seeing Severus' confusion, he explained. "Just a body moving around on automation, but there's no one in there to react to external stimuli."

"Try again, Lupin. You've _got_ to get through to him. Also, I've not seen him eat the first thing all week. Can you ask the elves if they've taken anything to him in the dorms?"

Lupin nodded.

* * *

"Come on, Harry. You have to get out of the castle. All of your homework is done, so you can't use that as an excuse."

"I'm not in the mood," he said as he put his shoes on. He had intentions on going to the Founder's Library today while everyone was in the village. There were a lot of books in there that he could use to help him get revenge for Sirius.

"Harry James Potter, you are going with us to Hogsmeade," said Hermione as she stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. "You need some air. You've been cooped up way too long. You're not talking about Sirius, you're not eating, and you're not sleeping. You're basically not living. Sirius wouldn't want you to do this to yourself."

"You can't tell me what to do," said Harry as he strode past her.

Ron looked at Hermione and grimaced. "He didn't even put any emotion in it as he pushed you out of the way."

"He's hiding all of his emotions. It's like he's completely shut down. I don't know how to get through to him, Ron."

"Come on. We'll go tell Professor Lupin. Maybe he can talk to Harry while we're in Hogsmeade."

She nodded and headed down the steps.

* * *

Harry was furious.

He had entered the Room of Requirement like normal, passed all of the puzzle doors, but for some unholy reason he could not enter the actual library. It was like an invisible barrier had been erected that prevented him from entering.

As a result, the room had suddenly provided him with about 50 things to blow up - which he did in a vent of anger.

After an hour, he had no energy left so he fell on his butt in the middle of the room.

He felt ill. It could be because he'd not eaten anything more than a slice of toast every day, but he doubted it. He just had no appetite. He laid back and stared up at the ceiling - where he dozed off for about 40 minutes.

Again, he dreamed of Sirius blaming him for his death and again he woke up screaming.

With a sigh of frustration, Harry headed up to the library. There were plenty of books there to read from.

* * *

_December 20, 1995_

_Ron, Hermione, Neville, Lupin, and Dumbledore won't leave me alone. They don't seem to realize that it's my fault Sirius is dead. If he wouldn't have cared for me, then he would still be alive._

_Nick told me that Sirius hadn't come back as a ghost, that I would have known it if he had._

_I'm still not sleeping for any more than an hour at a time. The nightmares have returned with a vengeance._

_I don't think it's normal that I don't have an appetite either. Every time I try to eat something, it comes back up._

_It just hurts so bad to know that I'll never have a family again - that I'll always be alone._

_Maybe it's better that way._

_-Harry_

After stowing his journal in his trunk, he buried, deep underneath his occlumency shields, what little bit of emotion he had let bubble up. 'It's better this way', he thought as he headed up to the library to study some more curses.

* * *

Severus had watched Harry's increasing anger and emotionless mood swings get worse every day and realized that he needed to do something about it himself, even if it did cause Harry to hate him forever. The boy needed to mourn, not hide.

Friday the 22nd, the last day of classes before Christmas break, was when Severus had enough. He braced himself for what he was about to do.

"Pathetic Potter. Even your _dog_ father could do better than that and he's dead."

The first sign of Potter's temper was the jars vibrating around the room. It was really the first sign that the boy was even in there anymore and not just an empty shell walking around.

Snape circled Potter's desk. "Of course, no one misses the mangy mutt. I know that I certainly don't."

The entire class grew silent as the jars around the room that had been vibrating suddenly exploded.

"You leave him alone," said Neville, surprising everyone in the room.

Snape eyed the broken jars on the floor. "Everyone leave but Potter. He's going to clean up this mess."

However before anyone could respond, Potter drew his wand and pointed it at Snape. "Don't. You. Dare. Talk. About. My. Godfather!"

Snape sneered. "I can talk about anyone I want to. Being the Headmaster's little Golden Boy does not save you in my classroom."

To everyone's shock, Harry flung himself at Snape and started hitting him for all he was worth - evidently forgetting that he was a wizard. A wave of some type of magic had picked everyone else up and threw them out in the hallway and slammed the door shut.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" demanded Malfoy as he untangled his legs from Hermione's.

"Oh, this isn't good," she said a split second before accidently falling back down on Malfoy as she tried to stand up.

Neville ran to the door to try to open it. It didn't budge. All the students tried to open the door and it simply wouldn't open.

"We need to get someone," said Hermione.

The Slytherin's parked themselves in front of the classroom door. This, to them, was going to be good when that door opened and they saw Potter turned into a toad.

The Gryffindor's first ran across Trelawney. They didn't even stop. She couldn't have been any help. They ended up choosing McGonagall and barged in on a 7th year class.

"Snape and Harry are killing each other," said Ron as he gasped for air.

"Excuse me?" asked McGonagall.

Hermione quickly explained what happened.

"Go tell the Headmaster," McGonagall said as she rushed to the dungeons.

"Everyone go on your way," she said as she approached the potions' classroom. After much grumbling, especially from Harry's friends, the hallway cleared out. McGonagall then tried the door. She couldn't get it to open either. Just as she was about to transfigure the door into a broom, the Headmaster rounded the corner.

"I got it Minerva."

"Are you sure?"

"I am."

After the deputy Headmistress left, Albus tried the door knob and to his surprise, it worked.

However, the scene he walked in on he would never have expected to see in a million years.

Severus was holding onto a crying Harry. The older man was gently rubbing circles in Harry's back, telling him to let it out.

The Headmaster silently closed the door and raised an eyebrow at Severus.

The potions master looked slightly uncomfortable - no doubt at being caught more so than holding onto Harry.

Albus quietly took a seat. About 30 seconds later the door opened again. It was Lupin.

"Oh, thank Merlin. A group of Slytherin's said you were down here killing each other."

Remus quickly shut the door and went to stand by Albus.

It was then Harry looked up. He wiped his eyes.

"Feeling better now Harry?" asked Snape quietly.

"No, but I will be," he replied just as quietly.

"Harry?" Remus said.

Harry looked up and startled slightly at seeing Remus and the Headmaster. He hadn't heard them come in.

"Oh Remus, I'm sorry." Harry then launched himself at Lupin.

"Why are you sorry, cub?"

"Even though you told me not to put my feelings behind my occlumency shields, I did. It just hurt so much to know that I'll never have a family and that I'll never see Sirius again. It hurt because I thought it was my fault."

Severus turned away guiltily and conjured a mirror under the pretenses of checking to see how badly the boy had hit him.

"What happened Harry?" asked Dumbledore.

"I ... uh ... kinda attacked Professor Snape."

"With your wand?"

"My fists," muttered Harry.

"Tomorrow, after the memorial service and the will reading, I'm taking you to Grimmauld Place for the Christmas holidays so that you can begin to mourn properly," said Remus.

"No, I'm not ready to go back there yet. I'll be fine here at school."

"I don't want you shutting yourself up in your dorm the entire break."

"I won't. I promise. I'll come down to visit you every day if you want me to."

Remus frowned but nodded. "And don't throw yourself back into your work to forget, Harry. You _need_ to mourn."

Harry glanced between his swollen knuckles and Professor Snape and flushed. "Yeah. I know." He then looked at Professor Snape. "I'm sorry I hit and kicked you sir."

"It's alright Potter. I provoked you on purpose because I could see what was happening. It was the only way that I knew to reach you. After the holiday's, I'll set up a detention with you because if I don't, the entire school will think they can get away with what just happened."

Harry nodded. "Yes sir."

"Why don't you spend the night in my quarter's Harry? We'll stay up and talk some," said Remus.

"Would that be okay Professor Dumbledore? My friends are leaving on the train to go home in the morning."

"It's fine, my dear boy. You better run along and assure them that Professor Snape has not maimed you."

Harry nodded and left the classroom. He found his friends waiting for him at the end of the hallway.

"Let's go for a walk near the lake," he suggested as he neared them. "I need to talk to you all and apologize for how I've been acting."

* * *

"What happened Severus?"

"I provoked Potter and he reacted, both with his fists and a _huge_ bout of accidental magic."

"Why did you provoke him?" demanded Remus.

"Because he was not mourning. He had locked all of his emotions away and it was slowly killing him."

"So your answer was to have him punch you?"

"It wasn't my first choice but it worked. The same time he launched himself at me, he sent a wave of some kind of magic through the room that made all of his classmates fly out into the hallway. It evidently locked the door too because I heard people trying to get in."

"I didn't have any trouble though Minerva was about to transfigure the door to get in."

"It opened fine for me too," said Remus.

"So how did it go from him punching you to him crying in your arms?"

Severus shook his head. "Eventually he ran out of steam because he's clearly not been sleeping and then he suddenly started crying. I'm not sure how that happened actually, but I couldn't turn him away."

He then cast a glamour over his now swelling eye. "Try to keep him talking Lupin. He can't bottle himself up like this again."

Lupin nodded.

* * *

Harry sat down in a chair next to Dumbledore and Remus. There were about 15 various order members standing guard in case something happened.

The goblin then started reading the will. Sirius had left his cousin (Tonks) and Remus quite a bit of money. Harry had been left Grimmauld Place and all of his belongings plus the contents of his vaults, including the money that had not been given to the other two.

"In the event of my death, if Harry James Potter is still under the age of 17, I name his guardians to be Remus John Lupin _and_ Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Harry James Potter is not, under any circumstances, to be returned to Petunia Dursley and her family. Furthermore, they are to be prosecuted for their mistreatment of Harry James Potter, despite the protests he will have against this."

Harry's eyes widened. Sirius had saved him from the Dursley's but he was going to have to do something about punishing them. They hadn't asked for him after all.

The goblin eventually finished reading the will.

"Here is the Black vault key, Mr. Potter. You won't be able to visit it today because we have a loose dragon on that level of the vaults."

"Er ... okay," he said. "Thank you." Harry bowed to the goblin (he had learned that in History of Magic) much to everyone's surprise.

At the door, Harry looked at the goblin holding it open and said quietly, "Thank you, Griphook."

"We are sorry for your loss, Mr. Potter."

"Thank you."

Once they exited the bank, Harry held onto Remus' arm to apparate back to the castle.

"The memorial service was nice," Harry said to Remus as they walked to the castle's entrance.

"Sirius would have wanted pranks though," commented Lupin.

For the first time in two weeks, Harry laughed. "He would, wouldn't he?"

Later that evening, over a light supper in Remus' quarter's Harry looked at the man and said, "I know Sirius named you my guardian but since all I can do right is attract danger, I understand if you don't want to be."

Remus turned his head and scowled. "Nonsense Harry. I want to be here for you. And the Headmaster, well he's tickled pink at helping to raise you."

"I'm 15. There isn't much raising left to do."

Remus smiled. "Oh, I think you'd be surprised."

* * *

A/N: Okay ... okay. So it's later than I originally intended, but there was a lot of stuff to cover in this chapter, mainly Harry's grief. The next chapter deals with him beginning to heal some and of course, there is the small matter of Harry *finally* being informed of the truth. *waves hands around non-chalantly*

Who wants to takes bets on how many things Harry blows up when he's told the truth? ;-)

I want to say that I'll have the next chapter posted in around a week's time. I've mostly finished with the editing, but I do still have one section that needs work.

And I know that in the story, Lupin can't gain control of Harry d/t to his "furry little problem", but I've actually explained that in a later chapter.

*set's out a box of Berties Every Flavor Bean's for everyone to eat*


	95. Mourning Properly and Shocking Truths

Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else from the HP world. I just like to play around with them.

* * *

Chapter 95

* * *

Severus was currently drinking a glass of fire whiskey in his quarter's.

The Dark Lord was extremely pleased that he had discovered a new way to provoke Harry. Thankfully, Lupin had said that Harry was _finally_ starting to mourn properly now, so after a while, the provoking won't hurt so much.

However, Albus had just left his quarter's. It would appear that Black had named the Headmaster and Lupin as co-guardian's. Albus had demanded he finally tell Harry the truth after he had finished mourning Sirius.

"He has a lot of people that will care for him but that can't replace a father. You've been out of each other's lives as father and son for too long. _Tell him, or I will._"

The Headmaster had then left in a flurry of vivid purple robes.

As he finished off his glass, he wondered what the appropriate time for mourning was, because he still mourned Lily to this day.

* * *

"Why did you blame yourself, Harry?"

Harry took a drink of his hot chocolate. It was currently Christmas Eve and he and Lupin was trying to talk through some of his pain.

"Because everyone that cares about me ends up dying."

"Harry," scolded Remus, "that's not true and you know it."

"Isn't it though? Mom and dad loved me and they died to protect me and I can almost guarantee you that Sirius was caught simply for the fact that Voldemort knew it would destroy me."

"The Headmaster and I care about you and we're still alive. Your friends and the Weasley's care about you. Severus cares about you too," Remus replied as he put some marshmallows in his cup of cocoa.

"I've come to the conclusion that Snape has lost his mind, that he only thinks he cares for me as a favor to my mother. As for my friends, you, and Dumbledore, I wish you wouldn't. It will only get you killed, like it did Cedric. I can't handle any more death's on my conscious."

"Harry, Severus cares for you for more than just the memory of your mother. And if any of us do die, then it will _not_ be your fault. Cedric was not your fault either. You need to get that through your head. Another war is brewing and there are casualties in war."

"But you all are easier targets by being closer to me."

"No, we're not, Harry. We are all fighting for something we believe in. That, itself, would put us on the front lines. I believe Albus once said that 'Death is the next great adventure,' and while I am hoping that I live to a ripe old age, I'm not afraid of dying for something I believe in."

"It's just that I don't want to endanger anyone." Harry stared down into his empty cup, lost in his own thoughts.

Remus watched, exasperated as Harry seemed to take the blame for the entire war on his shoulders. He needed to lighten the mood some, yet keeping him talking about Sirius.

"So, did you hear about the time you changed the Headmaster's beard a multitude of colors?"

Harry blinked. "I did?"

"It was after an Order meeting. Normally you weren't taken to those, but James was out with another Order member warding houses that were known targets for Voldemort's followers to hit and Lily didn't want to leave you alone. As the meeting let out, Albus started playing with you. The next thing we all knew is that his beard turned a pale blue color. Sirius burst out laughing and yelled for you to change it to orange, so you did. Everyone watched in awe as every color he called out, you merely pointed your finger at his beard and it turned it that color.

"Albus, to say the least, was laughing harder than any of us had ever seen, so he leaned over to whisper something in your ears. You then pointed your finger at Sirius and his hair turned pink with neon green polka dots on it."

Harry burst out laughing. "I didn't!"

"You did."

"How old was I?"

"Four and a half months old."

Harry blinked slowly. "I had that type of control over my magic that young?"

Remus grinned. "You did. What's more is that neither Albus nor Sirius could change it back for a week."

At that, Harry laughed even harder.

Remus just smiled. He was glad that Harry hadn't learned that magic in children did not normally happen that young, never mind the fact that it was practically unheard of for him to have such control over it at a young age. It was just too good a memory to not share.

* * *

"Merry Christmas, Harry," said Remus as he entered the boy's dorm.

"Gah!" Thud! Harry fell out of bed.

"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry." Remus rushed over to him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Can you not scare me next time?"

"I dunno. That was pretty funny," said Remus as he helped Harry up.

Harry made a face at Lupin.

"Take a shower then come down to my quarter's. I had the elves bring your presents down there."

"All right. You have food right? I actually feel a little bit hungry."

Remus nodded.

Forty minutes later found Harry in Remus's quarter's opening presents. He wasn't fully in the mood, but Remus was certainly trying and he couldn't deny him. After all, Harry was sure he missed Sirius too.

"This one was from Sirius, Harry. He had gotten it for you back in September."

Harry eyed the box warily, unsure if he wanted to open it. Making up his mind, he tore into it. Suddenly there was a flash of light that temporarily blinded him for about three seconds. When his vision cleared, Remus was nearly doubled over in laughter. Harry then realized why. His hair was red with gold tips.

"Did you, or he, prank the box?" asked Harry as he pulled out the inner small box while chuckling.

"He did."

"Of course he did," said Harry laughing lightly.

He opened the smaller box more carefully and nearly dropped it from what it contained. It was a necklace (he seemed to be accumulating them) that had charms on it of a big dog, a wolf, a stag, and a doe. They all made sense to him but the doe.

Remus saw Harry's brow crinkle. "Lily's patronus was a doe, Harry."

"Oh!" He hadn't known that. "I wish he was still here Remus," he said more quietly.

"He is here, Harry. He's in our heart. The ones we love never really leave us. Remember that. It helps me get through the day. It might do the same for you."

Harry thought about it for a couple of moments and nodded.

"This one is from Snape. If anyone asks, you are to say the Headmaster got it for you."

"Er ... okay." He was surprised that Snape got him anything. The man had been avoiding Harry ever since he had punched him.

In the package was a bottle with a note attached. He read the note then gasped. "This will make it to where I don't have to wear glasses anymore!"

"What are you waiting for then? Drink it already!"

Harry carefully worked the stopper off and downed it in one gulp, which was probably a good thing. It tasted like vinegar. Suddenly his eyes started burning and watering something fierce. Twenty seconds later it stopped.

"Something's wrong! Everything is blurry!"

Remus chuckled and leaned over to remove his glasses.

"Woah." Harry looked around the room with wide eyes. Even glasses for his prescription didn't let him see this clearly.

"Harry?"

"Huh? Oh. It works great Remus! You don't think Sirius or my dad would be mad, do you?"

Remus chuckled. "I think James would have been horrified to realize that you had inherited his eye sight and that Sirius would agree with me on that."

Harry stood up. "This is going to take some getting used to. I can even see the flecks of brown you have in your eyes from here."

Suddenly the floo flared and out popped Dumbledore. "Merry Christmas Harry."

"Merry Christmas, sir," said Harry grinning.

"What happened to your hair?" asked the Headmaster - clearly amused.

"It would appear that Sirius can still prank people," he said while smiling slightly. He showed the Headmaster the necklace before placing it around his neck to join with the one Snape had given him.

"The elves ran me out of the kitchen for sampling Christmas dinner so I thought I'd come see how you two were doing."

Harry smiled again. The Headmaster wasn't fooling anyone. He just wanted to make sure he was doing alright.

* * *

Voldemort was in an excellent mood. He had been told by one of his ministry spies that only the people named on a prophecy could remove it. While his Death Eater's had been having Christmas celebrations with some muggles and a few wizards they had managed to capture, he had visited the Ministry. (There had been practically no security in the building, much to his amusement.)

And now he was _finally_ going to learn the full thing.

He activated it and listened with high anticipation.

_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, Born as the seventh month dies ..._

The prophecy stopped speaking causing Voldemort to look down at it and frown. He took his wand and tapped it again.

_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, Born as the seventh month dies ... _

To his horror, Dumbledore's voice cut in.

"So, I see that you retrieved the prophecy, Tom. I figured that you might try to do so. Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to hear the rest of it, so I had it replaced with this one. I do wish, that when you were younger, you came to me with your problems. Maybe I could have helped you and you wouldn't be on the path that you are now. For now, you need to realize that I won this round."

"No!" Voldemort threw the prophecy orb across the room and watched as it shattered into a million pieces. He could _not_ believe this. He spied Wormtail in the corner of the room trying to remain curse free.

"Severus should have known about this," he snarled as he sent a curse toward the nearest chair which caused it to explode. "Wormtail, I have a job for you."

"Y-yes Master?"

"If you succeed, you will be rewarded very, very well."

Wormtail perked up some.

* * *

Severus was perusing the latest potion's journal when the wards went off in his classroom.

He quickly put down the periodical and rushed off to see who was invading his potion's cupboard again.

When he got there, he frowned. There was no one around. In fact, it didn't even look like any of his ingredients had been touched. He looked around the room carefully but nothing was amiss.

As he exited the classroom, he saw Peeves zoom down the hallway cackling. Maybe the poltergeist had somehow managed to cause them to go off?

He returned to his quarter's and headed to his personal lab to check on some of his potion's. Albus had told him that his present to Harry had been received wonderfully. He had yet to see Harry though. The boy had been staying in Lupin's quarter's most of the break and for those rare times he wasn't in there, he was sleeping in Gryffindor Tower. (He had spent Christmas brewing potions to re-stock the infirmary, instead of eating with the staff and the left over students.)

* * *

"Remus, can I ask you a question?" asked Harry as he rummaged around in the kitchen cupboard looking for a chocolate frog.

"Certainly, Harry."

"In the will, Sirius said that he wanted my aunt and uncle prosecuted for how they treated me. I don't want them hurt. Is there anyway to stop that from happening?"

"Harry," said Remus as he walked into the kitchen and opened another door, revealing the sweets he knew his godson was looking for, "I agree with Sirius on this matter. They deserve to be punished for their mistreatment of you."

"But they never asked for me, Remus. And if you punish them, all anyone is doing is proving their point that we're dangerous and not trustworthy."

"Harry, it's neglect - if not outright abuse, what they did to you. Personally, I'd like nothing but to see them locked up in Azkaban."

"No!" Harry said with such intensity that caused the man to look up. "I don't want them arrested or harmed. Aunt Petunia had to put up with my mom coming home from Hogwarts and no doubt getting extra attention simply for the fact that she was a witch. Then I'm left on her doorstep, as a reminder of her dead sister and how much of a 'freak' she had been. I'm sure she knew that I'd be a wizard and all it served to remind her was that she could never be what her sister had been. It would be like dangling chocolate out in front you, but no matter how hard you tried, you could never reach it."

"Harry, it's not like that at all. Adults are supposed to look past rivalries and care for children. Locking them in a cupboard and only feeding them when all the chores were done right is not the way you do that."

Harry stared open mouthed at Remus. "How ... How did you know that?"

"Er ... well ... your aunt, uncle, and cousin were already dealt with."

"No! Remus!"

Remus held up a hand. "It's already been done, and I doubt that even if you begged him, the Headmaster would reverse what he had done to them."

Harry's eyes widened in horror. "What did Dumbledore do?"

"First, he subjected them all to veritaserum, provided by the Goblins - in accordance with Sirius' will. When he realized just how badly you had been treated, he nearly blew up the house. In the end, he settled for the law of Karma."

"I don't understand."

"He essentially cast a spell on them that had whatever was done to you, come back on them threefold."

"Remus, that isn't fair."

"Neither is having what was done to you."

"But I'm fine."

"You're not fine. I can still see the damage that the Dursley's done to you. You flinch whenever you find out something new about yourself. I've heard you mutter the word 'freak' more than once. Even Sirius was concerned about the lasting effects on you being raised by them. In fact, the only reason _he_ didn't do something rash is because he knew that you would be peeved at him. I think this was the only way he knew to exact revenge on them for your behalf."

Harry put his head in his hands. "All this is going to do is reinforce their belief about wizards."

Remus smiled at him. "That's the best part. They don't remember anything about the magic part, just that they abused their nephew and this was their punishment."

He just groaned.

* * *

Harry carefully snuck down to the dungeons. He was currently a man on a mission. Once he arrived at Snape's office door, he knocked lightly.

The door flung open about five seconds later.

"It's me, sir. Can I come in for a minute?" whispered Harry from underneath his invisibility cloak.

If Snape was surprised by his sudden visit in the dungeons, it didn't come across his face. He merely backed up and allowed Harry to pass. Once Snape had closed the door, and he felt the wards go up, he removed the cloak.

"Can I help you with something, Potter?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir. I heard Professor Dumbledore say that you were down here grading papers. I just wanted to thank you for making the potion for my eyes. Remus told me that there were very few potion masters in the world that could even attempt it without blowing themselves up."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "You do not need to thank me."

"But I wanted too, sir. Did you need anything done around here? I don't mind scrubbing cauldrons or something."

"It was a gift, Potter. I was not asking for anything in return. Are you finally eating again and talking about your godfather?"

Harry blinked at the rapid change of topic, but nodded. "Yes, sir. It still hurts to think about him. Despite what Remus said, I still believe that I'm responsible for his death. Sometimes I wonder if I didn't know occlumency, if I would have been able to know that he was captured so that he could be rescued."

"Potter, look at me. Black's death is not your fault. As much as this is going to annoy you to hear it, it's more so his own fault than anyone else's. The day that he had been captured, he had apparated to Diagon Alley - undisguised. One of the lesser Death Eater's recognized him and managed to stun him and the woman he was with. He then handed them over to the Dark Lord to gain some recognition. So you can see, it was not your fault that his own idiocy led to him leaving the house undisguised."

Harry blinked owlishly at Snape. Why had he not been told this? He shook his head to refocus. "It doesn't change anything. Sirius was recognized as my godfather. If it wasn't for me, then he'd still be alive."

Snape gave an uncharacteristic sigh. "Potter, he was recognized because everyone knew that he was an Order member."

"How can you know that?"

"Because the Death Eater that captured him ... let's just say we had a little ... chat."

Harry shivered at Snape's tone.

"And even if you did not know occlumency, you still would not have been able to prevent his death. The Dark Lord did not deliver the killing blow, nor did he torture him much after he had obtained all the information he could."

"Who did?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Why?" demanded Harry.

"They were cousins. Cousins that very much hated each other. She had wanted to ... play so the Dark Lord let her," he sneered.

Harry forced the tears back. This was good to know, but at the same time, he hated knowing that Sirius had been tortured that badly before he died.

"When is your next occlumency test with the Headmaster?"

Harry startled out of his inner musings. "Uh, in two weeks. He said that he wanted to give me some more time to talk about my feelings and such."

"He's right. You need to mourn a little while longer before he starts invading your mind again. You are keeping your shields up at all times, right? Because if you do not, then more than just yourself will be in danger."

Harry got the unspoken message. "Yes, sir. Despite what you may think of me, I'm not a complete idiot. I know that if they were not up, Voldemort could find out which side you're really on. I don't want any more death's on my conscious," he whispered.

"After your next test, as long as the Headmaster tells me that your shields are strong and that he can find no holes in them, I will tell you the secret I have been keeping that regards you."

Harry immediately perked up some. "You will?"

"I will. I doubt the Headmaster will even leave the room until I do so. Though, I suppose I could have him touch something that will give him hives - something so that he would learn that threatening a potion's master is not the brightest idea in the world."

Harry snickered. "You'll have to wait until after the rash Dumbledore has now goes away."

"The Headmaster has a rash?" asked Snape with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep. Sirius got me a necklace and spelled it to where if anyone other than me touched it, they would break out in a rash. I showed it to him on Christmas, not realizing that of course. I could feel the magic on it, but I just assumed that it had protective charms on it like the one that you gave me," said Harry slyly.

Snape had never outright confirmed that the necklace had came from him. "How very Slytherin of you, Mr. Potter. Fishing for information. Yes, the necklace did come from me. It did belong to your mother. May I see the necklace that Black sent you?"

"You want to touch it?" asked Harry, with a slight grin.

"No. I just want to scan it to make sure that there is nothing harmful on it."

"Sirius wouldn't hurt me."

"I know that," he snapped. "I need to make sure that the rash is all that is going to happen to the Headmaster. While Black wouldn't do anything to you, I'm sure that he figured if someone else took the necklace, then they would pay for doing so."

"Oh. Okay." Harry pulled it over his head, laid it down on the desk, and watched as Snape cast several spells on it. To his astonishment, Snape's lips twitched - as if he were trying to refrain from laughing.

"You may put it back on. There are no protective charms on it, just the prank ones. They will not harm you, but I do need to go see the Headmaster."

Harry replaced it back around his neck.

"Do you understand what the doe charm means?" asked Snape. Harry thought his eyes had lost some of their sharpness.

"Yeah. Remus told me that it was mom's patronus."

"It was. Run on back to your dorm. I need to take the antidote up to the Headmaster."

Harry nodded and paused as he went to pick up his cloak. "Sir, do you really believe that it wasn't my fault that Sirius died?"

"I do more than believe, Harry. I _know_ that it is not your fault that Sirius died. Keep practicing your occlumency, and even more importantly, keep talking about your godfather. It will help you move on. I'm sure that he's even watching over you right now - more than likely telling you to hex me."

Harry snickered. "I'm sure he is, but I _do_ have at least a _little_ bit of self–preservation. I already belong to McGonagall for the next century in detention. I don't need to belong to you for the one after that. Thank you again, for the potion, sir. I've never seen this clearly before. Have a good night." Harry then pulled his cloak over himself and vanished out of the door.

Smiling slightly, he headed up to his dorm to write in his journal.

* * *

Harry was waiting in the entrance hall for his friends to return. He eventually saw them and waved them over.

"You look better Harry," said Hermione. "How are you feeling?"

"Not great, but better than I was. It turns out punching Professor Snape is good therapy."

Ron laughed. "Yeah. I'll take your word on that. There's no way I'd ever find out. What was your punishment?"

"I belong to McGonagall for the next month. She seemed to be concerned that he would turn me into an ingredient, pickle me, and then use me in a potion."

"I'd be afraid he'd do that too," said Neville. "You look older without your glasses by the way."

Harry grinned. He had written to all of them to warn them he looked different. Thankfully his hair was its normal color again.

"You look more handsome, too," said Hermione. "You do realize that most of the girls are going to want to date you now, right?"

Harry groaned in mortification as they headed into the Great Hall to talk about their break's. Evidently Bill came home for Christmas, which had Ron talking about 100 words per second. "He told me to tell you he was sorry about Sirius."

Harry nodded.

"Of course, then I got a lecture on coming home instead of staying here with you but I had to explain to him that Professor Lupin had asked us all to go home for the holidays so that he could help you."

Harry looked up. It made sense. Had his friends still been in the castle, then he would have used them as a diversion, despite the fact that he knew he needed to mourn. He would have to thank Lupin tomorrow.

* * *

"Set the ritual for the next full moon, Nott. Make sure that the sacrifice is indeed ... unspoiled ... this time."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Soon, after the ritual is performed, we will make ourselves known to the public again. Have your ministry contacts told you anything of substance?"

"They are still adamantly denying your return. Everything that goes wrong is blamed on Wormtail."

Voldemort gave an evil laugh at that thought. It appeared the rat had the use of more than just annoying him.

As though his thoughts alone summoned the man, he came bursting in through the door.

"I have proof, Master!"

"_Crucio!_" He let the curse up after a minute. "How _dare_ you come bursting in here like that." He then turned his attention to Nott. "You are dismissed." Nott bowed out of the room and he then turned his gaze back onto Wormtail.

"I'm sorry, M-Master. But I have proof! You won't believe this. _I_ don't believe t-this."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow at Wormtail then took the paper that he had in his hands. He then watched as the man backed up into the corner.

He quickly opened it and stared down at its contents. "No! This isn't possible! I can sense treacherous thoughts in even the most seasoned occlumens!" Voldemort continued reading the letter that Wormtail had brought him. "He was my favorite! How could he betray me like this?

"Wormtail, get over here. I want to see your memories. I want to know _everything_ that happened the past few days that you were gone."

Peter crawled over to Voldemort and let him (not that he had any choice) into his mind. Voldemort saw images of how he had set off the wards to the potions classroom and how he had been waiting by Severus' quarters when the man had returned. He had snuck into the room that way. Memory after memory flew by of Wormtail carefully and thoroughly searching the man's personal quarter's.

"_He's getting a little bit better, Severus. You should be able to tell him soon, at least without him exploding half of the castle."_

"_He's freely talking then?"_

"_He is. He is still taking blame for everyone's deaths, but he is talking about Sirius now."_

"_Merlin, why couldn't he have been in Slytherin? They aren't so self sacrificing!"_

_Remus snickered at him._

Voldemort then saw Wormtail come across a box that was heavily warded and watched with slight approval at how he managed to open it without the wards going off. Some trinkets, a letter, and a photo album were present. Pettigrew had looked through the photo album in shock, opened the letter and carefully read it, then copied it and placed the original's back in the box. He then reset the wards.

As he made to leave the room though, he found himself brought up short by Snape himself. After he had left to go up to the feast, the rat like man had then fled the quarter's. It took him three hours to actually get out of the building though because of ghosts, elves, students, and teacher's. He did not want to get caught. In fact, at one point, he had almost been trapped by a big orange cat with a scrunched up face.

Eventually, Voldemort pulled out of Wormtail's mind. Three random things exploded in the room behind him, causing the man to cower even more. "Lucius and Bella were right. Severus ... is a traitor ... and the fact that he's Harry's father makes the betrayal cut even deeper. Give me your arm Wormtail. Severus will be summoned tonight and will _eventually_ be permitted to die, but first he will be tortured to make what was done to the Longbottom's look humane!"

Wormtail crawled over to where Voldemort stood and bared his left forearm to let his master summon Snape.

* * *

In Hogwarts, Harry Potter sat straight up in bed, his heart racing madly. It had been months' since Voldemort had been so angry that he had broken through his occlumency shields. On pure reflex, he closed his eyes to check them and saw that they were fine.

He then replayed what he could remember over in his head.

Voldemort had been reading a letter, evidently handed to him by Wormtail. The letter, he had been focusing intensely on it as he read. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He remembered it being addressed to Snape and that it was from ... his mother! His eyes opened in shock for a moment then re-closed them. He couldn't remember what all it said and he frowned as he tried to focus on the words on the page in his memory.

Suddenly he shot out of bed.

'_Harry is your son.'_

That's something that's not possible. He was the spitting image of James Potter. He knew that. He has pictures of that!

He got up and started pacing as quietly as he could without waking any of his dorm mates up. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember anything else the letter said.

He then froze.

All the almost talks, the presents, his feeling strangely close to Snape ... like a son. Harry suddenly felt ill.

A lie. His life was a lie. He sat down on his trunk. When did this start? He tried his best to think back to when Snape's behavior toward him had started to change. Toward the middle of his third year is when he first began to notice a ... nicer ... side of Snape (if it could be called that). The man had known for almost two years and didn't tell him? All he had to do was say, "Harry, I'm your father".

Oh, when he got his hands on Snape ...

His eyes widened in horror then. Voldemort knew. Snape was on his way to a death trap!

He quickly and quietly threw on his clothes, grabbed his invisibility cloak, his wand and fled out of the room. He then headed down to the dungeons but when he got to the Great Hall, he realized that one - he didn't know where Snape's quarter's were and two - it had been about 25 minutes since he had first sat up in bed.

Harry then quickly and quietly slipped out the front door. In the distance, thanks to his new found eyesight, he could just see Snape apparating away.

"No!", cried Harry, only to realize that the silencing charm he slept with was still on him.

He ran down to the place where Snape apparated from and after making sure no one else was around, began casting those spells that Moody had taught him about following an apparition trail.

But no matter what he did, he came up blank. Either Snape purposefully masks it whenever he apparates or something about the Dark Mark masks it automatically.

Harry then let out an exasperated breath. He knew there was really only one thing he hadn't tried yet. Since he already had a silencing spell on himself, he cast a scent masking charm, a spell to hide his own magical signature, a muffling charm on his shoes, and thought back to his dream. More specifically, to Voldemort's throne room.

Voldemort was not allowed to kill Snape. If they both came out of this alive, that would be _his_ job. The man doesn't get to die without answering some question's first.

After making sure he was fully covered by his invisibility cloak, he pulled in his magic to make his apparition as silent as possible, and vanished into the night.

* * *

A/N: *whistles innocently at the cliffhanger*

I hope that everyone liked this chapter. I actually had a good time writing it.

Hopefully everyone is at least some what satisfied with what Dumbledore did to the Dursley's. I know that I said it earlier when Harry caught Skeeter that Dumbledore rarely get's to be the one to exact revenge, so I figured that he could exact some revenge on the Dursley's.

So ... just as Harry finally starts to get over Sirius' death a little bit, this is thrown at him. But, he does know the truth now! *points* The original premise for my story always had Harry learning the truth from Voldemort, so that never changed. *evil smirk*

Those that bet on Harry's reactions, the bet is still on - assuming you were right and they live through the night. I will say that learning that Snape is his father had not sunk in fully whenever he apparated away. He was running high on those feelings of needing to save him (and wanting to kill the man himself for keeping something like that a secret).

Up next, well, other than everyone wanting to throttle me that is, the Headmaster notices that Harry and Severus are both missing. *backs away slowly and makes a break for the door* It's not as long as this chapter, thus should be up by the weekend.


	96. Out of the Frying Pan

Disclaimer: The usual's! *points to previous chapter's*

* * *

Chapter 96

* * *

Albus woke up feeling rather refreshed, especially now that his rash was gone. Severus had came up a couple of nights before, and after mocking him for a good twenty minutes, finally handed over the antidote. Upon asking how the man had known about his rash, he learned that Harry had ventured down to the dungeons to have a chat with him.

That, of course, had pleased Albus greatly. Hopefully it would make telling Harry the truth a tad bit easier if the boy was still seeking out the man's company on his own.

After a quick shower, he plundered around in his night stand for one of his lemon drops. He then headed down to his office. He had some paper work to finish up plus he needed to contact Kingsley about an order mission the man had just returned from.

His stomach gave a low rumble. 'Hmm, maybe that can wait until after breakfast,' he mused to himself.

Just as he did every morning, he glanced at the clocks tuned to various people on his shelf. The two on the front of the shelf were the ones he normally paid the closest attention to.

Severus Snape: Mortal Peril

Harry Potter: Mortal Peril

Albus nodded. All was as it should be. He then headed out of the door down to the Great Hall, idly wondering if the elves would serve the lemon flavored biscuits this morning.

Perhaps five seconds had passed when Albus came rushing back into the room and looked at the clocks again.

"No!"

He immediately sent his patronus to Minerva telling her to check the dorm for Harry, while he ran down to Severus' quarter's to look for the man there.

* * *

"C'mon Harry! Get up!" said Ron as he tied his shoes. It was odd that he was up and moving before Harry was. After his shoes were tied, he got up and moved Harry's curtains surrounding his bed aside and saw that the bed was empty.

He should have known that he didn't sleep later than him. Maybe he was in the common room and he just hadn't noticed him when he headed to the shower earlier.

As he was exiting the dorm, he almost ran straight into McGonagall. "Weasley, is Potter up yet?"

"He's not in his bed ma'am. He's probably in the common room."

McGonagall entered the dorm and looked around. Potters' book bag was still present but his wand was missing.

"Is something wrong, Professor?" asked Ron.

"When was the last time you saw Potter?"

"Last night before we went to sleep."

"C'mon Ron and Harry! I need to run to the lib-," Hermione trailed off as she saw McGonagall standing in the boy's dorm. "Good morning, Professor."

"Granger, have you seen Potter this morning?"

"No ma'am. Is he missing?"

She ignored the question. "Did you hear him leave the bed last night Weasley?"

"No, Professor. He sleeps with a silencing charm on himself and besides, he hardly ever sleeps for more than like four or five hours, so he's most always up long before the rest of us."

She turned around surprised at that. She had no idea. She ushered them fully into the dorm and closed and warded the door. "I need you two to check to see if anything is missing from his belonging's."

"Is Harry missing?" asked Hermione again, her voice showing more alarm than it had a second ago.

"The Headmaster believes he may no longer be on school grounds. Time is of the essence. Please look around."

They didn't see anything missing right off, but neither could open his trunk. Ron suddenly had an idea.

"Dobby!" he called, much to the scandalized look of Hermione.

"Oh, the great Wheazy is calling Dobby! Can Dobby be helping the Wheazy?"

"Harry added you to his trunk's protection's didn't he?"

The elf squinted. "He did," he said cautiously.

"Can you open it for us? We think he might be in trouble and I need to see if his invisibility cloak is missing."

"Oh, Ron, that's brilliant!" said Hermione.

Dobby looked to McGonagall. "Is Harry Potter in trouble?" asked the elf with trepidation in his voice.

"We're unsure Dobby. Please open the trunk if you can so they can search to see what all is missing."

Dobby opened the trunk and Ron and Hermione started going through it. "His cloak is missing."

Hermione sighed. "Thanks Dobby. You better lock it back that way no one else can get in it."

He done so. "Can Dobby help you find Harry Potter?"

McGonagall looked down at the elf. "No one can know that he's missing. Can you turn yourself invisible and search the castle?"

The elf nodded. "I can be doing that. I'll be letting you know what I find out."

"Granger, Weasley, do either of you know where he might have gone?"

"Er ..."

"Where Ron? Harry could be hurt!" said Hermione.

"I've suspected that he's been back to the Chamber of Secret's. I know he went back down there last year because he was covered in dirt when he should have been in bed asleep all night, but I'm not sure about this year."

"Oh, that's not good. He's the only one that can open the entrance to it. Have you checked Professor Lupin's quarter's? Harry stayed there over Christmas break."

"Professor Dumbledore was checking there." McGonagall sighed. "I need you two to go on to breakfast and class and act like nothing is wrong. If anyone asks, tell them Harry got sick last night and is in the infirmary."

"But Professor," said Ron, "we want to help you find him."

"No. No one can know that we _can't_ find him. Maybe Dobby will get lucky and find him in some obscure part of the castle asleep. Act like nothing is wrong, and at the end of the day, head up to the infirmary to take him his homework. I'll meet you all there before dinner and update you. Now go on."

They scowled but headed down to breakfast.

* * *

Albus was frantic. Severus quarter's revealed nothing missing except for Severus himself, his death eater robes and the mask. He was currently on his way to Lupin's quarter's to see if Harry had stayed there.

As soon as Lupin opened the door, the Headmaster entered the room. "Is Harry down here with you?"

"No. He stayed in the dorm last night. Why?"

Albus sighed. "Because he's missing. His and Severus' clock showed Mortal Peril this morning and I was hoping that they were broken. I have Minerva checking the dorms and asking his friends."

Remus grabbed his cloak. "I'll go check Grimmauld Place."

"He's not there. I've already checked."

"Where could he have gone?"

"I don't know. The fact that Severus is gone bothers me as well."

"Surely you don't believe Severus would take Harry to Voldemort do you?"

"Of course not," scowled Albus. "I'm afraid that Harry might have received another vision and thought that he needed to rescue Severus."

"I thought they had stopped."

"They had, but that doesn't mean one couldn't suddenly break through if Tom became angry enough."

"Harry knows not to go off on his own like that, especially doing something as suicidal as trying to rescue Severus." _'Unless, he thought he was about to be responsible for another death,'_ Remus thought with horror.

"I'll contact Kingsley, Tonks, and Moody and have them start looking around. Right now, everyone is going to be under the impression that Harry has developed a case of Dragon Pox, since he never received it as a child and is in the private room in the infirmary. I need to go discuss this with Poppy but we have to carry on as normal. No one can know that Harry is not in the castle."

"I cannot lose Harry, Albus. Especially not so soon after Sirius."

"Hopefully Severus and Harry are together and Severus will be able to -"

Suddenly a cat patronus bounced into the room. "Not here. No idea."

Albus sighed with frustration. This was not good.

After talking for another minute, Remus went to breakfast (after more protesting that he should be out looking for him, not sitting around the castle) and the Headmaster headed up to the hospital wing.

"Poppy, I need your assistance."

"Of course Albus, what is it?"

They went into her office and erected privacy barriers. "I need you to set up the private room like you would if someone had a case of Dragon Pox."

"_Does_ someone have a case of Dragon Pox?"

"No. But we're going to say that Harry showed up in the infirmary last night itching with whelps on him. You are currently trying to rule it out."

"Why?" demanded Poppy.

"Because no one can find him and my clock has him in Mortal Peril."

Poppy gasped but nodded. She immediately set out to fix things up the way she would need to.

* * *

Albus was currently in his office. Just like before, all of his searching spells hared off on a wild tangent or fizzled out completely. The clocks had not budged from Mortal Peril so he knew that both of them were still alive, but that didn't make him feel much better.

What in the name of Merlin could have put them both in that danger?

"Headmaster?"

Albus looked up at the Bloody Baron. "Yes Baron?"

"Potter is not in the Chamber of Secret's, nor in any of the other places we ghosts have come across him before."

"He's been back to the Chamber?"

The Baron nodded. "He went down a few times last year. Once it became general knowledge where the entrance was, us ghosts became able to go down there as well."

Albus sighed. "Thank you for looking Baron. How did you know he was missing?"

"We are ghosts, Albus. We know quite a few things that goes on, plus the Grey Lady was in the infirmary this morning when you talked to Madam Pomphrey."

"Do you know what caused them to leave the castle?"

The Baron tilted his head to the side. "No Headmaster, but if you wish I could ask some of the other ghosts. They may have seen something."

"I would appreciate it Baron. Thank you."

* * *

Madam Pomphrey sighed. She had just finished checking over most of the students that had contact with Potter last evening when the boys friends came in the infirmary.

"Have a seat, you three. I'll be with you in a minute." After grabbing their medical folders, she returned to them. "Stay still, I need to scan you to make sure none of you managed to contract what Potter has."

"Has he been found?" whispered Hermione.

She shook her head. "Bite down on this Longbottom and hold it in your mouth for 20 seconds."

"But I had Dragon Pox when I was a kid, Madam Pomphrey. I can't get it again."

"It doesn't matter. I have to check you regardless."

Neville huffed as he put the sponge like object with goo on it in his mouth. 'When Harry's found, assuming he's alright, I'm gonna smack him upside his head for making me go through this,' he thought with annoyance. The goo tasted absolutely awful.

McGonagall came in the room just as the medi-witch had finished up her scans. "These three are fine as well. None of them are sick."

"Very good. You guys go on back to class. You can bring Potter's homework to him after dinner."

"Did Dobby find him, Professor?" whispered Hermione.

His friends all frowned even deeper when she shook her head no.

"Why did he run away?" asked Ron - also keeping his voice down. "He seemed to be fine yesterday."

"I don't know, Mr. Weasley. Run along. I'll speak to you all again after dinner."

Madam Pomphrey watched as the trio walked out of the door, then looked over at Minerva. "Has anyone found Severus, yet?"

"No. Albus still believes that they are together. I just hope that if they are together, Severus can get Potter out of whatever he has gotten himself into."

Poppy nodded and headed off to her office to finish up her paperwork. Since the school was going to be under the impression that Potter had Dragon Pox, she had to keep up the illusion by checking everyone the boy had contact with - to make sure that it didn't spread. Otherwise, people would start asking questions.

* * *

By 10pm, Albus had put together a rough time line of what had happened.

Simon the Sinful had seen Snape leave the castle, apparently under no duress, around three in the morning. That most likely meant the man had been summoned.

The Fat Lady recalled her portrait being opened from the inside by an invisible person around that time as well. She said that it happened a lot and after a while began ignoring it.

That must have been Harry leaving.

The shepardess painting by the entrance said that she saw the castle's front door open twice that morning, but didn't see anyone actually opening it either time.

That had been both of them leaving the castle. Severus using a spell to not be seen and Harry using his cloak.

But what would make Harry chase after Severus without letting anyone know where he had been going?

A chill ran down Albus' spine. Harry must have seen a vision where Snape's cover had been blown and went to help him.

"Foolish, foolish boy," he muttered.

Albus spied a series of maps he had spread out on his desk. He had been going through some of the memories Severus had let him keep copies of in an effort to locate Voldemort's base. They had both long speculated that it was located in an unplottable county, as neither could really figure out where it was. Unfortunately, he wasn't any closer now to locating the place than he had been before.

Around 1am, he had memorized certain areas in Severus' memories that he believed he could apparate to, and headed out of the castle. Once at the gate, he thought of each place and turned on the spot.

And he went nowhere.

'How did Harry follow Severus?' Albus wondered with a frown.

Feeling disheartened, he headed back up to his office to see if he could come up with any more ideas.

* * *

"I'm worried, Ron."

"So am I, but there's nothing we can do."

"I wonder if Professor Dumbledore sent Professor Snape off to see if he could find Harry?"

"You don't reckon Snape took Harry to You-Know-Who do you?"

"Of course not, Ron. Professor Dumbledore trusts Snape and so does Harry."

"Right. Just saying."

"Why didn't you say anything about him going back to the Chamber of Secrets last year?"

"I didn't figure that he wanted anyone to know. Besides, he started going back down there during that time that I ... er ... was acting like a git to him."

"You still should have told someone. He could have gotten hurt down there."

"Hermione, when he's found, you are _not_ going to nag him about going down there."

"I don't nag, Ronald. Besides, Professor Dumbledore should be informed."

"I'm sure, McGonagall's told him by now, anyway."

"Why did he run off like this on his own? He doesn't have us to help him if he get's caught up in anything."

Ron's eyes widened at Hermione. "Hermione, Harry is perfectly capable of taking care of himself."

Hermione looked at him incredulously.

"Okay, so I admit when it comes to his personal self, he's a bit of an idiot, but when it comes to him using magic, he surpasses us all. He's also got that bit of Slytherin in him that's sneaky. When he's found, unless you want him to become annoyed at you, you need to relax a little. Don't harp on him about not telling anyone that he had been back to the Chamber of Secrets. I'm sure he had a reason to not tell someone in the first place. Besides, it's over and done with. I've not seen him dirty any this year, so I doubt he's been back."

"But what if Salazar Slytherin, or You-Know-Who for that matter, left something down there that could harm him."

"Then I'm sure it already would have."

"I ... I'm sorry Ron, it's just that I'm worried. He's always had at least one of us with him on his 'adventures', and now that he doesn't, I'm afraid that he's not going to make it."

"He has, but in the end, he's ultimately faced everything alone. He was alone during our first, second, and fourth year whenever he faced You-Know-Who. I have faith in him, Hermione. You should too. Besides, if You-Know-Who did manage to get Harry, then Snape is probably with him right now. I'm sure Snape will be able to rescue him."

Hermione frowned, but nodded. "When did you become so reasonable?"

Ron snickered. "Harry has a way of making a person grow up, at least a little bit."

"It's to bad that he had to grow up the most. I don't think he's ever really had a normal childhood."

"I don't think he ever got to be a child period," commented Ron, sadly.

The two stayed up talking about Harry until midnight which is when the other boys returned to the dorm to sleep, making Hermione have to go to the girls dorm.

Before drifting off to sleep, they both prayed that Harry would be found during the night and that he would be safe.

* * *

By 5am the next morning, Albus was utterly beside himself with worry.

Severus' clock had moved to 'Dying' even though Harry's lingered on Mortal Peril.

He couldn't take it anymore. He had an idea, but unfortunately, it wasn't the safest thing to try. However, at this point, he didn't have anything else to lose. He quickly scrawled out a note and left the castle again.

* * *

A/N: Hmm... I wonder if this chapter is going to get me flogged because Harry and Severus are suspiciously missing from it. *ponder's around for a little bit*

Most likely.

*hides*

I kinda like the idea that Ron was the one that noticed that Harry had most likely been back to the chamber of secret's. After all, most everyone knows that he isn't the most observant person around. hehe Who thinks this is going to open McGonagall's eyes a bit about how much she really doesn't know about her students? I've always thought that the Deputy Headmistress/Headmaster shouldn't also be a Head of House. It's just too much work for one person.

Anywho, up next, I suppose I'll let you all know what happens with Harry and Severus.

So ... who want's another cliffhanger? Because I can probably give it to you. ;-) *grab's Death Eater's robes and mask and flee's the scene*

Oh .. uh ... I should have it up some time this week. The chapter is more or less finished. It just needs some finessing. :)

And for those threatening disembowelment (there were a few of you actually ^.^), I'm going to be hiding behind Lord Moldy-Shorts, so you have to go through him first. :P


	97. Into the Fire

Disclaimer: *waves wand* Bah! I still don't own Harry Potter!

* * *

Chapter 97

* * *

Harry looked up from the ground where he had landed. When he had apparated, he bounced - which meant that the room he tried to apparate into was warded.

Standing up, he took in his surroundings. He didn't have the foggiest idea where he was but saw what looked like a huge mansion in the distance.

"It was probably another animal. We wouldn't have this problem if we weren't up agin' a forest."

"Still, if we don't check it out, we'll be in trouble," said another voice.

Harry saw an older version of Crabbe and Goyle come into view. 'Dammit,' he thought to himself. He must have set off an alarm.

Heart racing, he made sure he was covered completely and stood perfectly still.

"_Incarcerous!_" shouted Crabbe. "Got him!"

* * *

Severus bowed and waited to be recognized. It had been a while since he had been summoned at such an odd hour, so naturally he was wary.

Voldemort paced in front of him for several minutes before pulling out a piece of paper. He could feel the anger coming off of him. Something or someone had severely pissed the Dark Lord off.

"My dearest Sev," he spat as he read from the paper in his hands. "I write this letter and cast these spells as a precaution ...".

Severus blood chilled. That was Lily's letter to him, which meant Voldemort knew, which meant he was royally screwed. He had one of two options. Confirm it or deny it. Either way, he'd have to talk his way out of the situation.

"Harry is your son," he continued reading.

Severus' head snapped up. "Potter is not mine, my Lord. He looks nothing like me."

"Oh, but he is Severus. I know the truth. There is _no _point in denying it."

"My Lord, if he _was_ my son, I would have brought him to you as soon as I was able. He is _not_ mine." Severus' mind was searching for a way out of this.

"Then how do you explain this letter?" demanded Voldemort, waving it around imperiously.

"May I see the letter, my Lord?"

"You have seen it before. It came from your quarter's at Hogwarts."

"I assure you that it did no such thing," said Severus as smoothly as he could.

"Wormtail," called Voldemort.

Wormtail came out of the shadows. "I got it from a locked box under a false panel in your wardrobe."

"You lie," stated Severus as calmly as he could. How had his wards failed on that box without him being alerted?

"He does not lie, Severus. Wormtail showed me the memory. He looked through a photo album that had been with the original letter as well. Potter is yours and you knew it." Voldemort circled Severus. "Which raises another rather interesting point. The part of the prophecy I heard indicated that the brat would be born to parents who had defied me three times."

Severus stiffened even more. He activated his personal port key but realized precautions had been taken in case he had one. It no longer worked.

"That would mean you betrayed me at least three times during my first reign."

"I did not, my Lord. Only a foolish person would betray you."

"Then you are very, very foolish Severus. Tell me, what will Harry think when he realizes 'daddy' is dead along side of his godfather? Maybe he would like your head in a box too." The Dark Lord let out an evil hiss of a laugh.

"I am _not_ the boy's father," protested Severus.

"Liar!" Voldemort then sent a curse at Severus and watched as he twisted on the ground in agony.

* * *

Harry looked over his shoulder in disgust at Crabbe and Goyle Sr. They were playing with some kind of animal they had caught. He didn't even _want_ to know what they were doing to it.

He then quietly headed toward the house in the distance, taking extra care not to step on a branch to give his location away. The closer he got to the building, the sicker he felt. It didn't take him long to realize that it was because of all of the Dark Magic that lingered in the air.

Two minutes later, he was brought up short by a stream or a moat of some type. The water was far from clear. In fact, Harry got a foreboding sense of doom from it. He scanned the area and saw a bridge in the distance.

About six feet from it, he stopped cold. There was a very strong and a very dark sense of magic coming from the bridge. He knew automatically that anyone who crossed the bridge without a Dark Mark would die.

Harry backed away and scanned the water. While he doubted the water would be instant death, he was pretty sure it would alert those inside the house to his presence.

He frowned. There had to be another way inside. Surely they brought those to be Marked in somehow without crossing the water or bridge, not to mention those that they tortured.

Carefully, Harry began searching around the house. After his second circle of the building, he began to get antsy. He couldn't let Voldemort kill Snape. He quickly made his way back to the narrowest portion of the stream and stared.

He was sure that he could make it to the other side. It was simply a matter of whether what lurked beneath the water would _let_ him.

There wasn't anything for it. He was going to have to try. He kept the cloak pulled over him - in case he managed to land safely, he didn't want to be seen after all - walked back a few feet and leaped.

The second he landed, he heard several unmistakable sounds of apparition.

He quickly made sure he was covered and sat frozen with anticipation and horror.

About thirty seconds had passed when he heard voices.

His blood ran cold. One of them was Bellatrix Lestrange.

While he had never met her, he knew from his occasional visions that she was one of the few female Death Eaters. That and he had been sucked into Voldemort's head one time during ... some rather disgusting activities with her. Even the Headmaster had grimaced when he had described it to him. (That had actually been the last vision he had received - before the one that had just woken him up.)

He wanted revenge. He wanted revenge so badly that he could taste it, but he was here for another reason.

With a silent sigh of frustration, he carefully crept from his lurking place and began searching for another entrance. He sincerely doubted that he would be able to walk in through the front door undetected.

* * *

Voldemort stared down at Severus in disgust. He had yet to find any proof in the man's mind that depicted he had betrayed him. But it _had_ to be there. Wormtail was a lot of things, but he was not an occlumens.

He looked up as his inner circle came in the room and kneeled. Bellatrix naturally became excited when she saw Severus in a huddled heap in the middle of the floor.

"Rise, my faithful. I called you here at this early hour to take part in the punishment of discovered betrayal. Severus," he spat, "has betrayed me and by association, you."

"Can I kill him, my Lord?" asked Bella eagerly.

"No. I need to find out what he knows first. Take him to the dungeons. You will each get a supervised torture turn. Once I have ascertained we know everything he does, _I_ will kill him, then deliver the remains to Potter."

Voldemort watched as Severus was dragged away.

"Why Potter, my Lord?" inquired Bella, curiously. "I hear Potter hates Snape."

"Because Severus is the boy's father."

The entire inner circle looked at Voldemort incredulously, so he freely handed over the letter for each to read.

"Bella, while you are down there, make sure you take _everything_ away from Severus. I won't have him poisoning himself to escape my wrath."

The witch nodded in pleasure.

* * *

Harry gave another frustrated sigh. The front and back doors had been warded like the bridge. Anyone without a Dark Mark that went through it would be struck dead instantly.

'Merlin, Voldemort is paranoid,' Harry thought for the 5th time in twenty minutes.

He then paused underneath a window. He was surprised that he could hear voices.

"I always knew he was a traitor," Bellatrix said rather gleefully. "It's a pity I can't kill him."

"That's the Dark Lord's job," said a male voice.

"I can't believe he's the Potter brat's father," said a second male voice.

"I've always known that Severus was hung up over that mudblood." That voice Harry recognized. It was Lucius Malfoy.

"I've thought up a whole array of curses during my stay in Azkaban. I bet they'll be fun to try on Snape," cackled Bellatrix.

"You'll need to be careful, Bella. If you accidentally kill him before our Lord can break him, he'll kill _you_."

Harry dared not even breathe again until the voices faded into nothingness.

After getting his heartbeat under control, he eyed the window that he was currently under. He closed his eyes and extended his senses. From what he could tell, there was no magic on the windows like there had been on the doors.

He reopened his eyes and glanced around.

In order to get through the window, he was going to have to climb - which unfortunately meant temporarily removing his invisibility cloak.

Harry silently cursed the fact that he didn't know an invisibility spell or even a disillusionment spell.

'Why can't I ever think of learning this stuff _before_ I need it?' he wondered as he eyed the window above him in frustration.

* * *

Severus was starting to fully come around. There was one window in the basement that showed it was daylight outside. How long had he been tortured?

He looked out of his cell to find the Dark Lord watching him closely.

"You are either an extraordinary occlumens or Wormtail has learned to fabricate memories."

"I have only _ever_ served you, my Lord," said Severus hoarsely.

"I cannot believe that, Severus. I've verified that the letter was written by Lily Potter and that you did, in fact, receive it. I've also re-checked Wormtail's memories. There was no change."

"I do not know what to say, my Lord, except that I am and always have been yours."

Severus suddenly couldn't feel his arms or legs, so he collapsed back to the ground.

"Rest assured Severus, if it turns out Wormtail is lying, he will be killed for depriving me of your services."

Voldemort then flicked his wand which made the cell door open and him slam against the wall to be re-shackled.

He had to keep his shields up. Maybe, if he played his cards right, he'll come out of this alive.

For Harry's sake he had to try. He could not, no _would_ not leave the boy parentless again.

* * *

Harry winced as he heard Snape scream.

He had managed to climb through the window and find a corner to lurk in while he gathered his nerves again.

Re-casting the spells on himself to keep his presence undetected (he really hated not being able to see his own magical signature - so he had doubly cast that spell on himself to make sure it was hidden), he began to make his way through the house.

Though, perhaps, mansion was the more appropriate term.

From what Harry could ascertain, there were at least three floors. He thought there was a basement too, since he had seen tiny windows when he had scouted the building from the outside.

Harry's scar pulsed with pain again. He fiercely occluded his mind. He could not let Voldemort know that he was on the property.

He spied a partially open door to some room. When he looked in it, he saw that it was empty. He decided that it was there that he would hide and make his plans.

* * *

"Having fun, Bella?" spat out Severus.

"Always," she hissed. "I've always known you were a traitor. Always observing, bowing out of participating in the fun, potions going awry occasionally."

She sent another curse at him. He held off in screaming for as long as he could, but the pain became too intense. He hated himself for screaming. It was a sign he was getting weaker.

"Always the mudblood," sneered Lucius from the corner he was lurking in. "You gave up an incredible thing here, Severus."

"I've not given up anything. I am on the Dark Lord's side."

"You liar!" screeched Bella as she sent a cutting curse at him.

Severus winced in pain as he felt the blood trickle down his back.

* * *

Harry winced as Snape's scream ripped through the air again. From the snatches of conversations he had been able to listen too, he realized the man was being kept in the dungeons.

Around 10 or 11 that morning, Harry had began to think, now that he had time - so to speak.

How had Snape become his father?

Okay, he knew _how_, and desperately tried not to think about _that_.

But had he forced his mother? Had he raped her?

Did his dad know the truth?

He then mentally froze. Remus _and_ Dumbledore both knew the truth.

Why had _they_ not told him?

'When is _my_ life finally going to become my own?' he furiously wondered.

Harry then took several deep calming breaths. The last thing he needed was for his accidental magic to flare up and alert someone to his presence.

Well, he tried to take a calming breath. The Dark Magic was so thick in the air that all it caused him to do was gag and choke.

How could anyone stand to be around this all the time?

A noise outside the door made him look up.

"We'll begin in five minutes. If you lot don't do any better today, I'll tell the Dark Lord that every one of you is useless and you'll be killed."

He then heard what sounded like the footsteps of about 10 or 15 people heading straight toward him.

* * *

"Cease," commanded Voldemort.

Everyone froze in their spell casting and looked at the Dark Lord.

"Sizemore, heal his wounds."

"My Lord!" exclaimed Bella.

"Are you questioning me?"

"Of course not, my Lord." She kneeled.

"I thought not. Let us retire for the moment. I want to see how the new recruits are faring in their combat training. I want guards down here at all times, incase someone tries to help him. I will not have him escaping my clutches."

"Yes, my Lord."

* * *

Harry looked around in his new location. He had made it further into the house while looking for the dungeons.

A glance outside told him that it was probably late afternoon.

He had been stuck in his previous location by a group of training Death Eaters. The older ones were teaching the newest recruits battle tactics.

While he most likely would have been able to move earlier, some type of survival instinct (that had been born of Harry Hunting, no doubt) had kicked in and had him staying put.

He had heard someone named Selwyn tell another Death Eater that he hoped the afternoon training session went better.

He had taken that as his cue and fled further into the house.

Harry was pretty sure he was now in a room across from the door that led to the basement / dungeons.

Realizing it would be a bit before he could go down there (he could only imagine what would happen if he were to open the door only to find someone standing on the other side of it), he began to think again.

Snape had told him several times that he loved his mother. So did that mean he hadn't forced her? And again, did his dad know?

Had Sirius known?

Why couldn't everything just be straight forward?

The sounds of the Death Eaters training sessions filled the air again.

Harry frowned. If these were the weakest Death Eaters - the less skilled - then he really had no chance. He didn't even know what over half of the spells he heard being cast did.

His scar then seared with pain. He could tell that Voldemort was coming closer. After re-casting the spells on himself, he pushed himself up against the wall the best he could.

"I want four guards down there at all times."

"Yes, my Lord."

"No one is to ... play without my presence either. Let him heal some before the next round of torture."

"Yes, my Lord."

"And locate Wormtail. I need to see him again."

"Right away, my Lord."

Harry bit down on his finger to keep from yelling out from the pain in his scar. No one would have been able to hear him, but he didn't want to take the chance.

'A normal scar should not act like this,' he thought as he checked to make sure it hadn't started bleeding.

* * *

Severus carefully opened one of his eyes what little he could. It was hard to do since they were both swollen.

A surreptitious glance around the room told him that none of his torturer's were present. There were, however, at least four guards outside of his cell.

He glanced down at his body. He still had on his Death Eater robes. He had bled so much that he could see the dried blood stains on the black garment. It appeared though that his jailors had healed him.

No doubt so they could torture him even more.

Had Albus realized what had become of him at the castle? Unless he could find some way to convince the Dark Lord he belonged to him, he doubted he would ever get out of here. There was no way anyone could rescue him. The place was too well warded.

He had to fight. He had to come out of this alive. He had to get to his son.

A noise made him look up.

"Whose side are you on, Snape?"

"The Dark Lord's," he managed to choke out. His throat was severely dry, plus he could taste blood.

"Do you have any proof?"

Severus realized that it was Rookwood. "I've never held anything back from the Dark Lord. I've done everything ... everything that he has ever asked me to do and then some."

"You're a Slytherin. I'm sure you've held back some information."

"Slytherin or no, I would be a fool to hold back information from the Dark Lord."

"Tell me, Rookwood, have you been holding out on me?' asked the Dark Lord in a near silent whisper as he came around the corner.

"N-No, my Lord."

"_Cruico_. Now why do I not believe that?"

Severus watched from where he was chained to the wall as the Dark Lord took his anger out on Rookwood, glad for the moment that it was not him.

* * *

Harry listened intently as Snape denied over and over again that he was his father - that Pettigrew had to be lying.

'Maybe he will be able to talk himself out of this,' he thought.

From his new hiding spot in the dungeons, he could see that it was dark outside.

Snape had been enduring all most non stop torture for hours upon hours - and the man had yet to break.

Harry admired that. He also knew that he could not have lasted anywhere near as long.

Unfortunately, other than one time, Voldemort had not left Snape alone. He clearly didn't trust his followers any further than he could pick them up and throw them.

He idly wondered what Ron and Hermione had been told about his absence.

Had Dumbledore found out what made him leave the castle? Did he assume that he had gotten caught and that Snape would rescue him?

Assuming he lived through this, he could only imagine the earful he was sure to receive when he returned.

* * *

"_I won't let anything hurt you, Harry, even if it means that you never learn the truth about me." Severus touched his sleeping son's head, brushing the hair out of his eyes._

"_If you promise to do your best to protect Lily and her family, you may do with me as you wish. I relinquish myself to your control ..."_

_Severus was looking through the photo album. His eyes lingered on the picture of Lily as she beckoned Harry to try to walk to her. He had a small tear running down his face._

"_Oh, Lily. Why didn't you tell me? Why did you send me a letter instead?" Severus removed some moss from her tombstone. "I don't know how to tell him now. What do I have to offer him? I don't know how to be a good father. And now my Dark Mark is growing darker every day. The Dark Lord is regaining his strength." Severus sighed. "Give me strength to do this Lily. I wish you were here." He placed a single rose on her grave and walked away._

In some deep recess of Severus' mind, as these memories that he had kept hidden deep behind his occlumency shields played by, he knew that he would never see daylight again.

* * *

"And for Lily, I'd betray you all over again."

Harry listened with horror as Snape spat that to Voldemort.

The man's shields had been breached about twenty minutes prior.

Clearly Snape thought that there was no more reason to deny anything.

In fact, Harry was sure that the only reason Snape was still alive was because Voldemort wanted to know _everything_ that Snape did.

He needed a distraction. His window of rescue was growing smaller by the second.

What on earth could he do without giving himself away though?

And then he had an idea.

For the first time since setting foot on the property, he was glad that there were always a various number of Death Eaters roaming the building.

With stealthing abilities that would have made Moody proud, he headed back up the stairs.

* * *

Harry sighed in frustration as he carefully made his way back to the dungeons.

It had, unfortunately, taken him over an hour to set his distraction up without either getting caught in it or it going off prematurely.

Snape wasn't screaming as much as he had been - which was by no means a good thing.

From what he could tell, Voldemort, Bellatrix, someone named Avery, McNair, and two other people were in there with Snape.

The window from a nearby cell showed the sky becoming lighter.

Didn't Voldemort need to sleep?

Ten minutes had passed when his distraction began taking effect.

Eventually the noise level became so loud that Voldemort snarled for everyone to leave Snape be for the time being, and he headed upstairs.

When he had passed by Harry, he could tell that the air around Voldemort was crackling with magic.

He slowly counted to twenty and carefully made his way to the cell where Snape was being held. His distraction would hold out for three minutes at most, so he needed to act quickly.

He saw two guards standing just outside the cell door. Thankfully, he had already thought of a way to deal with them.

He very quickly poked the end of his wand out from underneath his cloak and said, _"Somnus Statio_" at the two guards.

The spell was colorless so it didn't give his position away _and_ it made the two guards fall asleep in their standing positions.

The noise upstairs grew to alarming volumes again.

Those two taken care of, he eyed the other three.

If this didn't work, he had no doubt in his mind that he would be killed.

He, again, carefully poked his wand out from underneath the cloak and pointed it at the single light bulb in the room. Casting the cleaning charm strong enough to break it, he said, "_Nitor!_"

He then twirled his wand in the air and whispered, "_flamen ventus."_ The candles also immediately flickered out from the gust of wind that rushed through the room. He was pleased. That had been a spell in one of the Elemental Magic books he had read. However, it had been the first time that he had tried it.

He wasn't surprised when the three Death Eaters turned around with their wands drawn.

"_Stupefy!_" Harry silently yelled at the Death Eater named McNair.

He then dove left since he had given his position away.

The noise upstairs was picking up again.

When McNair had fallen, he had inadvertently pulled Avery down with him.

"_Reducto!_" Harry said, cutting through Bellatrix's shield. "_Incarcerous_," he then shouted on the fallen Avery before the man could fully get up.

"Show yourself," demanded Bellatrix.

"_Stupefy_," Harry said again as he ducked into a new corner.

The spell bounced off the shield she had set up, which meant that he hadn't shattered it like he had anticipated.

"Show yourself," she demanded again, after she had cast a spell in the place he had been standing a few seconds prior.

Putting more power behind it, he again shouted, "_Reducto!"_ The force of the spell sent her backwards into the wall with a sickening crunch.

He then stunned Avery (who had been struggling with the ropes) and Bellatrix. He had knocked her unconscious.

Not taking any chances, he also grabbed all of their wands and pocketed them.

He then turned his attention to Snape.

The man was bloodied, bruised, actively bleeding, and shackled.

When he went to reach for the shackles, he paused.

If someone without a Dark Mark touched them, then Snape would die.

"Damn Voldemort and his paranoia," he silently muttered.

Another set of loud voices ripped through the air. The final phase of the distraction just hit, which meant he barely had a full minute to get him and Snape out of the house.

He took his wand, latched onto Bellatrix's arm - over her Dark Mark, and said, "_Alohomora_" at each shackle.

Thankfully they had fallen off, without killing Snape.

He eyed Bellatrix lying stunned on the floor. He briefly thought of taking her with him too, but he had never side apparated one person before, let alone two. For all he knew, he would splinch all three of them. With another frustrated sigh, he turned and grabbed a hold of Snape's arm and pulling in _all_ of his power, he thought of Hogwarts and turned on the spot.

He felt the wards break as he went through them.

Midway through the tunnel of Darkness that was caused by apparating, he felt Voldemort's anger through his scar.

For some reason, he also felt the man's anger through his body as well.

It wasn't until they arrived at the gate of Hogwarts that he knew why.

When he had apparated, he had latched onto Snape's Dark Mark.

To his surprise, Snape turned and looked into his eyes. "I ... I'm sorry L-Lily. I tried t-to protect h-him."

To his horror, Snape then shuddered and moved no more.

"No!" He heard himself say. (He had broken through his own silencing charm.) "I did not rescue you just so you could die on me!"

* * *

A/N: First of all, I wanted to thank everyone for the reviews. They really do encourage me. =)

Okay, you all are getting this two days sooner than I was originally going to post it, but I figured that if I was going to give you a cliff hanger, I'd give you a real cliffhanger. :P

The next few chapter's will answer some of the questions that are sure to pop up regarding this chapter. Originally, I had Harry basically just walking through the front door, and then I got to thinking. You know ... Voldemort is going to have his base warded tighter than most paranoid pure bloods combined. Once I realized that, this chapter became a lot more fun to write.

Up next ... well ... I can't tell you. Voldie threatened me with a tickling charm ... and his tickling charms pack a mean left hook!

*nods sagely and disappears before I can be trapped and lynched*


	98. Burning

Disclaimer: All the usual's apply! I still don't own anything ... even with my foolish wand waving!

* * *

Chapter 98

* * *

Albus was currently gathering the supplies he would need to hunt for large concentrations of Dark Magic. During Grindelwald's reign, he had used this particular ritual to narrow down locations for the man's Headquarter's.

The problem with the ritual was that depending on how many concentrations of Dark Magic he located, the more it drained him, thus making him weaker. Last time he had used it, it had taken him nearly two full months to recover.

Just as Albus was about to cast the first spell, Fawkes flashed in, landed on his shoulder, and flashed away before the Headmaster could utter a syllable.

When he looked around, he saw that he was at the gates of Hogwarts. He opened his mouth to ask what the meaning of this had been when he heard Harry's voice.

"No! I did not rescue you just so you could die on me!"

He quickly sprinted to the gate. "Harry!"

* * *

Harry was currently fighting to stay upright because he had two sources of pain pressing in on him that was threatening to knock him unconscious.

Not only was he absorbing most of the pain from Snape through the Dark Mark, but he was also having his mind assaulted from Voldemort's anger. It was a struggle to keep his occlumency shields up to prevent himself from being overwhelmed completely.

"Harry!"

His head jerked in the direction he heard his name being called and saw Dumbledore rush to his side.

"Don't touch me," he snarled. His voice was laced with pure, unadulterated pain and he hated himself for showing that weakness.

Through the haze the pain was leaving him in, he saw recognition flash through Dumbledore's eyes. The Headmaster had realized that he knew the truth.

"Harry, I'm going to place a port key on Severus. It'll put you and him directly in the hospital wing."

Harry nodded. He then watched in confusion as Dumbledore was suddenly brought up short. He watched the Headmaster frown.

"Harry, you need to drop the shield. I can't place the port key on you until you do."

"Don't have one up," he gritted out.

"You do. I can't get any closer than I am right now."

Harry shook his head, confusion in his eyes. He didn't trust himself to speak anymore. It required way too much energy and he didn't have much left.

* * *

Albus eyed Harry in frustration. "Fawkes, see if you can penetrate the shield. If you can, can you flash them to the hospital wing then come back for me?" There was absolutely no way he would be able to move them without some kind of porting system.

He watched as Fawkes hovered over the invisible shield for a moment then landed on Harry's shoulder and flashed away. A moment later he flashed back and retrieved him. When he arrived in the infirmary, he saw Poppy rushing to Harry and Severus.

"Don't touch us," snarled Harry again. "Taking pain. Not allowed to die. Answers to me!"

"Harry, you need to let go of him so we can help."

Harry shook his head. "Being ... tortured ... Dark Mark. Not allowed to die," he said again.

Albus could see that Harry had bitten his lip in an effort not to scream and that it was now bleeding. Actually, the boy looked like he was holding in as much as he could. "Harry, if you need to scream, do so. Holding it in will only cause you to lose consciousness."

The boy shook his head as a response causing Albus to sigh with frustration.

Severus was also twisting in agony, which was how they knew he was at least alive.

"Know a spell, can't remember," Harry said hoarsely. His scar had started bleeding. "Need ... need a house ghost."

"What do you need, Poppy?"

"Just bring several vials of each potion over here."

He nodded and started summoning vials from the potions' cupboard.

* * *

It was official. Harry was frustrated. No one was listening to him. _Why_ weren't they listening to him? "I need a house ghost. Now!" said Harry, more fervently and much louder than he had previously.

"Harry, you need to let go of him," Madam Pomphrey said as she filled a pail up with water.

"No! Voldemort will kill him if I do." Harry hissed in pain. "I need a damn house ghost."

"How can a house ghost help?" asked the medi-witch as she inched closer to Harry.

However, she was brought up short by the same invisible barricade that Dumbledore had met with. She couldn't get any closer than three feet.

"Don't care who, just get one." Harry looked down at Snape while the Headmaster finally summoned a house ghost. "Don't quit fighting. You do not get to die on me. Not without first explaining why you never told me the truth. Why you never told me what I did to piss you off so badly that you didn't want me." He wasn't even aware that he was crying.

The pain suddenly eased up for a brief second, which made Harry realize that whoever's mark he had used to torture Snape with was dead.

Three seconds later the pain began again.

"You needed to see me, Headmaster?" asked the Grey Lady as she floated in the room.

Harry's head shot up. "I need to speak to ..." And then even more pain seared through his head. "To ... S-". The force of the Founder's secrecy spell pushed in on him on all sides, threatening to smother him. However, he knew he needed help. He could not do this alone so he pushed against the spell.

Nausea rose up within him from all of the pain being forced on him. He promptly turned his head the opposite direction of Snape and vomited.

After somewhat catching his breath, he tried again. "I need to talk to S .. Slytherin," he finally spat out.

He felt the spell from the Founder's Library break. He then put what was left of his energies into staying upright. The breaking of the spell almost knocked him unconscious - especially with all of the pain pressing into him.

Suddenly the hospital door slammed shut, a wave of magic washed over the hospital wing, the Grey Lady faded out, and another ghost faded in.

"Mr. Potter! Enough with the wild magic," scolded Madam Pomphrey. "You're going to pass out."

"Not me. Him."

"Dear Merlin," exclaimed the Headmaster as he turned around to see who Harry had indicated.

"Return to sender spell. Don't remember it."

The ghost looked between Harry and Snape and nodded.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore had seen a lot of things in his life but this beat them all. He and Poppy had been summoning supplies and trying to breach the ward that had surrounded Harry and Severus when the ghost of someone who looked remarkedly like the portrait of Salazar Slytherin appeared in the room.

The Headmaster watched with fascination as the ghost and Harry conversed in parseltongue. He couldn't understand what either of them was saying, but the ghost looked a little put out about something. Despite the situation, Harry had looked relieved to see him, as if they were old friends.

It was a bizarre situation.

So many questions passed through his mind, but at the moment they all took a back seat as Harry began talking to the ghost in parseltongue with more passion.

"Professor," said Harry, startling Albus out of his trance. How the boy was still awake and upright was a mystery. "I need," here the boy glanced to the ghost again, "a 12 foot braided rope, an effigy - whatever that is, and help from Fawkes. I'm about to pass out."

"Most spells that use puppets are considered Dark," said Madam Pomphrey, frowning.

Albus, however, transfigured something that would work will enough as a puppet.

"Attach the rope to its left forearm," said Harry with urgency.

Albus did as he was instructed, trusting to the fact that this would hurt neither Harry nor Severus. Fawkes had started trilling an encouraging and hopeful song in order to keep Harry up.

* * *

Harry's vision was starting to dim. "_I can't hold on much longer,"_ he hissed to the ghost.

"_The Headmaster has almost got it ready. You will most likely pass out after you say the spell. It will probably drain you of whatever magic you have left. You need to warn them."_

He noticed that Snape was no longer twitching, which wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"I want your word that when I do this, you'll ignore me and tend to him first," demanded Harry.

"Mr. Potter, I can't give you that," said Madam Pomphrey.

"I promise I'll be fine but this is going to cause ..." Harry stopped to hiss in pain again. "... cause me to pass out. Promise me you'll check him first."

The Headmaster turned to look at the ghost. "Will he be fine?"

The ghost nodded then turned toward him and hissed, "_Tell them it will drain your magical core and that you'll need a big dose of an energy replenisher spelled into you as soon as they get the chance."_

Harry gave a frustrated sigh as he blinked the blood out of his eyes that had leaked down from his scar. "He says that this will drain my magical core. I'll need an energy replenisher after you check him over."

"Mr. Potter. You can't do it then. You're already strained. If you do the spell, then it will most likely kill you."

"If I _don't_ do the spell, it _will_ kill him and he's ... he's not allowed to die. I want your word that you'll tend to him first. I _will_ be fine."

"You have my word, Harry, that we will tend to Severus first," the Headmaster said.

Harry nodded and looked down at Snape. "You better fight," he whispered.

* * *

Albus watched with helplessness as Harry removed one of his hands from Severus' swollen Dark Mark, slid his wand in his hand, and grabbed a hold of the braided rope - which formed a connection between Severus and the puppet with him as a conduit.

When Harry suddenly screamed in pain, that surely the entire castle heard, it chilled Albus to the bone.

He then watched as the young man starting hissing in parseltongue.

Thirty painful seconds later, the effigy exploded, Harry collapsed to the floor, and Severus was no longer breathing.

* * *

A/N: I am sooo incredibly sorry that this is being posted so late and that it's so short. RL has become really crazy. I have a family member in the hospital and everyone is moving houses and I need a really really big tranquilizer for myself. LOL

I've gotten some new reviewers! YAY! Help yourself to the cake and pie and pitchforks that are lying around. Wait .. pitchforks! *hides those* The cake and pie is still there though! I've had several reviewer's tell me that I continually mess up did and done and I really am trying to catch those, but I live in the sticks, so we mess them up all the time in everyday speaking. hehe

Another reason this chapter was so late was that I had a Point of View problem. I think I more or less have it straightened out. I hope so anyway. Yes, Harry connection w/ Snape's mark is unique, which will be seen in an upcoming chapter - as for the mechanics of it, that will be explained later as well. Unless I change it, the next chapter does not have such a big cliffhanger. ;) Since this one is so short, I'll try to post it on Saturday. Like I said, RL is crazy at the moment. I hope that it calms down, if not, I'm running away from home. :P

As for the help from the ghost and the Founders secrecy spell, let's just say good old Dumbles has lots of questions for Harry assuming he makes it through this alright. *points to cliffie for reference*


	99. Aftermath

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter. *pouts*

* * *

Chapter 99

* * *

Albus immediately ran to Harry while Poppy went to Severus.

He quickly put the boy on a cot and after making sure he was breathing alright, spelled two doses of an energy replenisher into the boy's system. As he turned to help Poppy, he saw the ghost nod in approval and fade out of view.

Severus was an utter mess. It was clear he had been tortured for hours. He had broken bones, cuts, puncture wounds, and blood everywhere. And all of that was seen without a diagnostic scan. Judging by the medi-witches frown, her scans revealed even worse.

Severus was alive, but he was barely hanging on. His breathing was shallow, ragged, and irregular plus his heart rate would go from 30 to 120 and back to 30 within a time span of seconds.

Between the two of them, even though it took over an hour, they managed to get Severus stabilized but what kind of condition he would be in _if_ he even woke up was uncertain.

They then focused on Harry. Despite being unconscious, he seemed to be locked in a painful nightmare. Madam Pomphrey spelled a dreamless sleep draught into his stomach before thoroughly checking him over.

"He's utterly exhausted, Albus. Whatever spell he just cast drained him so severely that my scans show he has no more power than the bed he's laying on." She then frowned and summoned a vial that contained a dark blue liquid - the one to help heal the nerve endings after being subjected to the cruciatus curse.

"He was hit with a cruciatus again?" asked Albus, clearly alarmed.

"I don't believe he was hit directly. My scans show that it's a result of whatever he just did. This is the closest thing that I have on hand that will help heal his frayed nerve endings."

"Will he be alright?"

"He should but it's going to be a waiting game. He cannot do whatever he just did again or it might kill him. He definitely needs a lot of rest."

Albus sighed as he looked between Harry and Severus. The private room was expanded and there would be a curtain in place to separate the two, but for now it was a straight view from one bed to the other. "We'll have to trust that Harry knew what he was doing. I'm going to go alert Remus and his friends that he's been found. I'll be back down before breakfast. If you need me before I can get back, send your patronus."

"Headmaster, I'm sure these two will sleep for a while. Rest. You've not ate anything since they went missing. If you don't take care of yourself, you'll end up in here with them."

"Very well."

* * *

Harry sat up in bed and automatically reached for his glasses - only to remember he didn't need them anymore.

He frowned when he realized he was in the hospital wing. He couldn't remember why he was there. He saw that he was in the private room as he glanced around. For some strange reason, there was also a curtain to his right. It was like the private room was bigger and now housed two people.

And then he remembered everything.

Snape was behind that curtain!

He darted out of bed, almost falling in the process, and headed to the other side of the room.

He carefully pulled back the curtain wall and saw Dumbledore asleep in a chair next to Snape's bed. It was dark out now according to the window behind the Headmaster.

How long had he been asleep for?

"Back into bed," Madam Pomphrey said in a whisper as she appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm fine. How is he?" His voice was strangely hoarse.

"It's going to be touch and go for the next several days. Back into bed. I need for you to tell me what happened the past couple of days and what you did earlier."

Harry shook his head. He really did not want to relive what he had seen and heard just yet. "I'm staying put. If Voldemort tries again, I need to be able to stop it."

"You most certainly will not be doing that spell again. Your magical stores were exhausted. I doubt you could even cast a cleaning charm right now."

Which explained why he was so tired.

"I waited too long last time because I couldn't remember the spell. I don't think I'll pass out again, especially if I catch it early." Harry then leaned back in his chair, and despite the fact that he had just woken up, he fell back asleep - as if he had been spelled that way.

When he woke up again, the sun was just starting to rise. He stretched and went to the loo. He then went back to Snape's bedside.

He eyed the man, as if he didn't know what to think of him anymore.

Harry heard Snape endure so much torture for so long. He didn't think anyone could last as long as he had.

Evidently whatever Voldemort found in Snape's mind, he hadn't been pleased. He just shook his head absent mindedly and ate the soup Madam Pomphrey put in front of him.

As he was falling asleep again, he realized the soup had been drugged.

* * *

"Quickly Albus. Hand me the green one."

Harry sat straight up in bed and looked around.

"Help me hold him down."

He bolted out of bed, nearly tripping over his shoes that were in the floor. When he rounded the corner, he saw Snape twisting in agony on the bed. His Dark Mark was so inflamed that his left arm looked three times it's normal size.

Harry shoved Madam Pomphrey out of the way and latched both hands on Snape's Dark Mark before either could protest.

"Harry, no!" said Dumbledore - obviously too late.

"I need the rope and puppet thing again, sir," he said through gritted teeth.

The Headmaster sighed and quickly reassembled one the way he had done previously.

Ten minutes later saw Harry seated in a chair, drinking a replenishing potion along side of a pain relieving draught.

"Is he any better?"

"It's too soon to tell Harry," replied the Headmaster.

"Tell me, sir, since I'm sure you know, why was I never informed that he is my father?"

Albus sighed. "Severus tried to tell you -"

"I'm not talking about him. I'm talking about you - or Remus for that matter. I have my own questions for Snape when he wakes up. This is something that should have _never_ been kept from me. Why didn't _you_ tell me?"

If he hadn't been so tired, he imagined the things in the room would be rattling.

"Ever since _I_ learned the truth, I've been encouraging Severus to tell you. This is news that should have came from him - not anyone else."

Harry winced. So Snape didn't want him? Well, who would? All he could do properly was attract trouble.

"Harry."

Harry was so lost in his thoughts he didn't hear the Headmaster.

"My entire life has been a lie. I don't even know who I am anymore," he muttered.

"Harry."

Harry looked down at Snape and shook his head. Snape had better live through this. He had questions that demanded answers.

"Harry."

Harry looked up.

"What's going through your mind?"

He just shook his head. He was not ready to share his thoughts.

"Where are my friends and Remus?"

"The school is currently under the impression you have Dragon Pox, so you are not able to return to class for a couple of weeks. That, of course, rules out visitors. However, Remus has been at your bedside while you were sleeping. He figured you wouldn't want to see him just yet.

"Your friends have been informed that you have been found, and after seeing you for themselves, they have been told to keep away until your mood stabilized. Plus, that allows us to keep the Dragon Pox story up."

Harry unconsciously rubbed his hands through his hair, making it stand up even more.

"What happened while you were away?" asked the Headmaster gently.

Harry sighed and after taking a drink of water, began his tale.

"Voldemort retrieved the fake prophecy we switched out. When he realized it was a fake, he was sure Snape knew, so he sent Peter to the castle to spy."

Harry frowned suddenly.

"Somehow Peter got into Snape's room and found a letter telling Snape that I was his son, along with a photo album.

"So I found out through _Voldemort_, that not only was James Potter _not_ my dad but that Snape was," said Harry disgustedly.

Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak, but Harry shook his head - telling him not to bother.

"Voldemort was so angry, he broke through my shields for the first time in months. He was reading a copy of my mother's letter. I ... well ... once I realized Snape was heading into a trap, I tried to catch him. I missed.

"Moody taught me how to follow apparition trails, but Snape didn't have one. I thought back to Voldemort's throne room and tried to apparate directly in there."

"That was very foolish, Harry. Tom could have found out about your connection and have been sending you a vision to lure you into a trap."

"I considered that before I apparated away, but I couldn't take the chance. If it wasn't a planted vision, I couldn't let Voldemort kill Snape without him answering to me first." Harry glared at the unconscious man on the bed.

"When I landed at where ever it was I went, I bounced. Sirius ... he had me try it in Grimmauld Place so I would know what it felt like."

"How did you get on the property?"

"What do you mean?"

"Harry, Tom uses warding around his base that rivals Hogwarts and most pure bloods combined. No one without a Dark Mark can cross the wards _if_ they can even find the base."

Harry's eyes widened. Paranoia set in. He automatically raised his left sleeve.

"Trust me, if you would have been Marked, you'd know."

Harry sighed. Despite all the sleep he'd been getting, he still felt tired.

"I just walked across the barrier. I could tell there were wards, but not that they were strict. More proof of how much of a freak I am," he muttered.

"Harry," scolded Albus.

Harry glared at the Headmaster. He was beginning to suspect his food had been laced with a calming draught. He was going to tell Madam Pomphrey to quit drugging him. He _wanted_ to feel angry.

"It took me a while but I managed to get in the house. I found a dark corner to hide in and listened. I tried not to cast many spells, certainly none that had a colored stream of light.

"I heard Voldemort torturing Snape. He denied over and over that he was a traitor, that he was my father. Evidently Voldemort had tested the copy of the letter Wormtail had taken thoroughly, so Voldemort knew the truth.

"The other Death Eater's were summoned and each took turns torturing him. It was horrible to listen too."

"Did they break through his occlumency shields?"

Harry nodded. "About two hours before you found us at the gate. The only reason he wasn't killed right away is because Voldemort wanted to learn everything Snape had been hiding. He became upset that he had been betrayed for my mother.

"At that point, Snape was no longer denying the truth. Voldemort was going to let Bellatrix ... let her send me his head - like she had done with Sirius."

"How did you get away?"

"I caused enough of a commotion in a distant part of the house that I knew would draw Voldemort away from Snape."

"Commotion?"

Harry gave a slight chuckle as he fought back a yawn. "Some of the Death Eater's found themselves temporarily the opposite sex. The others - well - they found themselves stuck to the floor. And whenever they tried to cancel it out, they found themselves naked."

"You ... pranked the Death Eater's?" The Headmaster looked utterly shocked.

Harry nodded. "I had to do something and all it would take was one unconscious guard left in view to raise the alarm."

He then explained how he got past the remaining guards.

"I was _very_ tempted to bring Bellatrix but I'd never apparated someone else before, so I could only bring Snape. I then focused all my power into the apparition and broke through the wards."

"You _broke_ through the wards?" asked Albus in disbelief.

"I knew I could because I done so at Sirius' accidently. From what I could tell, it wasn't any different."

Albus' lips twitched. "Harry, if I bring my pensieve down here, would you be willing to put a copy of the memory while you were gone in it so that I can view it? If you heard what all Severus had been cursed with, it's possible that we may be able to heal him faster."

Harry nodded.

The Headmaster left and quickly returned carrying the pensieve. He then explained to Harry how to use it. "We'll view it together, tomorrow, that way you will be able to answer any questions I might have."

Harry yawned. "That's fine. Can you tell Madam Pomphrey to stop drugging me though? It's kind of annoying." Having said that, he laid his head back against the chair and fell asleep.

"You know, when he realizes I'm not the one drugging him, he's going to be very upset with you," said Poppy.

"He needs to get his strength back before he can be allowed to vent his anger," said Albus.

"So he can fully blow up the castle?"

"He won't."

"Don't be so sure about that. Have you figured out a way to block the pain in Severus' Dark Mark yet?"

"No. Harry might be able to help me - since clearly he has access to more books than I do."

"Albus, do you get a headache whenever you try to speak about who we saw the other night?"

"Yeah. Yet again, something else we are going to have to ask Harry about."

"How can he know more about the castle than you?" she asked.

Albus chuckled. "Clearly I've not asked the right questions. He's far more clever than any of us have given him credit for."

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry it's taken so long. My dad is back in the hospital. Actually he's having a procedure done right now, which is what gave me the time to get this edited and posted. Hopefully this makes sense. I have an annoying TV on behind me that I can't control to turn it down or even change channels. So, I apologize beforehand for all of the mistakes that might crop up.

As you can see, some of the questions were answered. More will appear in the next chapter. Speaking of the next chapter, Remus explains things to Harry and Ron and Hermione is told the truth. So ... who wants to takes bets on how the duo handle this news? *grins mischievously*

I'm trying to get a chapter out a week, but with me taking care of my grandfather and my dad, I'm being stretched very thin right now.

I need a vacation ... and I still need that tranquilizer.

*puts out lots of sweets in order to bribe reviews* I do wanna thank those that have left reviews so far. You guys/gals are the bestestest! :D

And when I get home tonight, if I need to proofread even further, then I probably will. *shakes fist at evil TV of d00m behind me*


	100. Some Overdue Explanations

Chapter 100

* * *

It had been three days since Harry had returned to the castle with Snape. Madam Pomphrey had just brought him lunch. This evening he would be viewing some of his memory with the Headmaster.

"No more drugging," protested Harry, with a glare.

She nodded. "Your magical stores seem to be all right now. Just be careful when you cast anything for the next 24 hours."

He nodded that he understood.

"Harry?"

Harry looked up and narrowed his eyes at Remus. This was the first time he had seen his guardian since he had been back. He knew, of course, that the man had been by his bedside while he had slept, but he had always been gone when he had woken up.

"Can we talk?"

Harry nodded.

Remus sat down in the chair across from Harry. He eyed both Snape and his godson. Harry hardly ever left Snape's bedside when he was awake.

"I ... I'm sure you have questions."

"How long have you known?" Harry asked, bluntly.

Remus winced. "Since I saw you in Lily's arms the day you were born."

Remus saw Harry's hands tighten around the cup he was holding.

"Did mom know that you knew?"

"She ... suspected, but never came out and confronted me."

"Did dad ... er ... excuse me," sneered Harry. "Did James know?"

"James was your father as well. _Never_ doubt that. Yes. He discovered the truth when you were three month's old."

"What did mom tell him?"

"He never told her he knew."

"What?" demanded Harry. _'What is with all of these lies?'_ he wondered furiously.

"Can I start from the beginning?"

"That would be nice," he said while glaring.

Remus settled back into his chair and began his tale, hoping Harry would hear him full out.

"Your mother and Snape came to Hogwarts knowing each other. What started off as a strong friendship clearly became more over the years."

Harry glanced at Snape while Remus spoke.

"Early in our 7th year, they had a fight of epic proportions."

"What happened?" interrupted Harry.

"He slipped up and called her a mudblood."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise.

"I won't make excuses for him but he was hanging out with the wrong crowd in Slytherin. All of his classmates went on to become Death Eater's. The day it happened, James and Sirius were antagonizing him over something that happened in charms. Lily came to his rescue, which made his humiliation even greater."

"Why would that have humiliated him?"

Remus raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Imagine Malfoy doing something horrible to you that you couldn't break free of in front of half of the school only to have Hermione rescue you."

Harry thought about it. He didn't think it would have bothered him that much, but he could see where Remus was going so he nodded. His eyes then narrowed. "What did they do to him?"

Remus sighed. "They turned one of his own spells against him."

"One of his own spells?"

"Yeah. He is quite the genius. However, I won't tell you exactly what they done. If Snape wakes up and wants to tell you, he can, but it wasn't pretty. I ... should have stopped them but I didn't.

"James ... he loved your mother from the moment he set eyes on her on the train. Once he realized he had caused Lily and Severus to break up, in a move that would have made any Slytherin proud, he moved in to replace him. At first, she didn't give James the time of day but he made huge strides to show her he had grown up."

Remus stopped speaking long enough for Madam Pomphrey to bring Harry his afternoon dose of energy replenisher's.

Once he was resituated in his chair, he nodded for Remus to continue.

"They started dating late in their 7th year. Not long after graduation, James proposed to her. I do believe she loved James but it was easy to see her heart belonged to another."

"Snape?"

Remus nodded. "James knew that he held the number two spot in her heart and he was okay with that. In his mind, since he had her and Severus didn't, he had won."

Harry frowned but didn't say anything.

"Then came your birth. The wolf in me allowed me to realize you did not belong to James the second I saw you. I kept my mouth shut though because you _looked_ like James. Clearly Lily had done something to make this so. I figured if she wanted me to know the truth, she would have told me.

"When you were three month's old, James came across one of your mother's potions books. There was one potion in the book marked with her notes all over it. It didn't take James long to realize that if Lily had researched that particular potion, you were not his biological son."

Harry stiffened in his chair.

"But that didn't matter to him. He loved you very much."

"Even after he knew I wasn't his?"

Remus nodded. "He knew there was only one person in the world Lily would have cheated on him with. By this time, James knew Severus was a Death Eater. He had came across him a time or two during a couple of raids. All he knew was that he couldn't let you be raised by a Death Eater should Snape find out the truth. So, he turned to me and together we found a blood adoption spell. It basically made you his true heir and he hoped that it would give you some of his abilities."

"A blood adoption?" asked Harry with a furrowed brow.

"It's ... not considered a proper thing to do," said Remus.

"It's illegal," clarified Harry.

Remus nodded.

"Did mom find out about this?"

Remus shook his head no. "James hid it very well."

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So Snape never knew?"

"He found out the truth a couple of years ago."

"When mom and ... dad died, why didn't you tell Snape then?"

"First of all, within 12 hours of your parents being murdered, Albus had already placed you at the Dursley's. It then took perhaps three months for things to begin to settle down. Severus had been tried quietly as a Death Eater for his crimes but served no time because Albus vouched personally for his change in sides. I tried to talk to Albus about gaining custody of you back then but with my condition, it wasn't allowed."

"Then why can you now?"

"Because Albus is the other co-guardian. Sirius was smart to name us both."

"Did Sirius know?"

"No Harry. He did not."

"Would he have still wanted me?"

"Yes," said Remus, without any hesitation. "He loved you very much."

Harry twisted his hands in his lap. "That still doesn't tell me why you never told Snape."

"I had assumed that Lily had left something telling Severus the truth, and well ... I'm afraid I went a bit selfish. I knew that you were at the Dursley's. With Sirius imprisoned, I felt you should have came to me."

"So you didn't tell him the truth because you wanted me yourself?"

Remus nodded.

"Didn't you think that he would have let you see me?"

"He had no reason too. We hated each other in school."

Harry sighed then glanced at the cup he was drinking from.

"I think she was afraid you'd let loose some accidental magic," Remus said softly.

"I ... I need time to think Remus. Can you leave me alone for a while?"

"Harry, I'm sorry for keeping this from you. I've been pressuring Severus to tell you the truth. This was something I felt should have came from him and not me. I realize you're angry at me and I understand. I'll come back to see you tomorrow, unless you need me before then."

Harry nodded and went back to looking at Snape.

* * *

"How is he Poppy?" asked Remus as he ducked into the medi-witch's office.

"Physically, he's fine. His magical level is normal again. There are no lasting effects from his time around all that dark magic. Emotionally is a different story. During the time he's awake, he sits in that chair beside of Severus just staring at him. He's quiet, never saying anything. It's not good, especially so soon after Sirius' death."

Remus rubbed his hand through his hair. "I'm at a loss as to how to help him."

"If Severus dies, which could very well still happen because there's been no improvement, I fear that it will completely break him."

"I'll be back to sit with him again once he's asleep," Remus said with frustration.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Harry looked up to find Ron and Hermione looking at him. This was the first time he had seen his two best friends since his return to the castle.

"Are you okay mate? You look horrible. Ow!"

Hermione had evidently elbowed Ron.

First Remus, now them. Maybe he should have just gone back to bed.

He simply shrugged.

"Harry, do you feel up to visitors?" asked Hermione.

He shrugged again. Didn't matter to him if they stayed or went.

"We ... er ... brought you your homework," said Ron.

"Harry, you're not hiding your emotions behind your occlumency shields again are you?"

He sighed. "No." It was the truth too. He then glanced back at Snape. "Did you two know he was my father?"

That question caused Hermione to drop the books she was holding. Ron, however, knocked over the pitcher of water.

"Excuse me?" she demanded.

"At least you two weren't keeping anything from me."

"Harry, you're pulling our legs," said Ron as his voice squeaked.

"No. He _is_ my father. Voldemort told me."

They both jumped from the use of the name. Hermione recovered first. "You can't trust anything he says, Harry."

"Remus and Dumbledore confirmed it."

"But you don't look anything like Snape," blurted out Ron.

"My mom used some kind of potion and my dad used a blood adoption behind her back to give me his talents."

"But you would _know_ if he was your father," stated Ron adamantly.

Hermione turned to look at him. "How would he know?"

"You mean _you_ don't know?" asked Ron incredulously.

Hermione looked slightly put out.

"There's a bond between magical adults and their children. It allows for the parents to know when their kids are hurt or worse."

"That happens in the muggle world as well," pointed out Hermione.

"But's its an even stronger bond in the Wizarding World."

"So your parents always know when you get hurt?"

"Not for cuts and scrapes of course, but for big stuff like concussions and broken bones they know something's wrong. Of course, it also depends on how close the family is too. I can't believe you don't know this."

"I've never really thought about it," said Hermione. "My parents are muggles. But how does this explain how Harry would have known that Snape was his father?"

"He would have felt close to Snape. The bond between parents and kids are passive, but they _are_ there. It's why when people have affairs in our world, if a child results from it, it can't really be hidden. If the child and adult happen to meet out in the world, they would most likely realize the truth, even if the kid looks nothing like them."

Hermione looked simply intrigued.

Harry glanced at Snape again. "I have felt close to him."

Ron's eyes bugged out even more.

"More than once I've felt like a son to him ... or what I guess a son should feel like. I thought I was crazy. It's hard to describe but I feel ... comfortable in his presence."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" asked Hermione.

Harry looked at her incredulously.

"Good point. Harry ... what happened? Where did you go?"

"What did Dumbledore tell you?"

"That you rescued Snape but wouldn't tell us anything beyond that," said Hermione gently.

Harry sighed. "I'll tell you but I need you both to promise not to tell anyone and not to tell anyone that Snape is my father. Clearly he didn't want me to know. I doubt everyone else finding out is going to make him too thrilled when he wakes up."

They exchanged looks. "We promise," said Ron.

Harry then told his tale, leaving out a few things - such as his ability to see magical signatures (they still didn't know about that).

Of all the things for Ron to say afterwards, he chose, "you pranked the Death Eater's?"

"It served as a good distraction."

Snape suddenly started convulsing on the bed. Harry bolted out of his chair and latched both hands over the Dark Mark before either Ron or Hermione could act.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Harry, what are you doing?"

"Get Madam Pomphrey!" he hissed.

A minute later, they both returned with the medi-witch. She sighed in frustration. "Mr. Potter, I thought I told you to quit doing this."

"He is _not_ allowed to die."

The medi-witch glared as she set up the golem the correct way.

Another minute later saw Harry sitting back in his chair taking a pain reliving draught and his friends demanding an explanation.

"Voldemort can torture someone through the Dark Mark. I used a return to sender spell to send the pain back to him."

"I don't understand," said Hermione.

"When I put my hands on his Dark Mark, I can absorb the pain that's being sent through it. With the golem thing and the rope, I can essentially send some of that pain back to Voldemort without hurting Snape worse."

Hermione's eyes flickered between him and Snape and the golem. "You send the excess energy to the golem but just enough back to let You-Know-Who know that you're still watching."

Harry nodded.

"But how did you connect to him by placing your hands on his Dark Mark?"

"I guess it's because of the bond you mentioned earlier. Dumbledore nor Madam Pomphrey could do it."

"I wouldn't think it would be the bond, but you never know."

"Time for you two to leave," said Madam Pomphrey. "He still has Dragon Pox."

Harry watched as his friends were ushered away. He was then alone with Snape.

He quietly leaned forward and moved Snapes hair out of his face and whispered, "You're not allowed to die on me, so you may as well hurry and wake up."

* * *

A/N: Ok, so this is posted waaayyy later than I normally would have. I have NOT abandoned this story. I just have a ton of stuff going on in RL. I'm taking care of my grandfather, my dad, and my 8 month old nephew. Though, I may have convinced my mom to watch my grandfather while I take a month long vacation and visit some distant relatives. If I do that, then I'll have more time to write.

I'm curious as to what you all think about how the duo reacted to Harry's news and Ron explanation of the passive bond between adults and children. If it's not clear, I may be able to elaborate in a later chapter, or I could fix it in this one. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but hopefully it will be soon. From memory, we'll all find out if Snape lives or not because he's clearly still not doing so well right now.

Leaves out various treats for reviews and slinks off before being caught! (Happy New Year by the way!)


	101. The Waiting Game

Disclaimer: *checks self* Darn it. I still don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

Chapter 101

* * *

The next afternoon found Harry doing his homework at Snape's bedside when the Headmaster strolled into the private room.

"Afternoon, Harry."

"Afternoon, sir," replied Harry as he glanced up.

"This evening we'll finish reviewing the memory of your time in Tom's Headquarters. Madam Pomphrey told me that she reversed two of the curses on him from yesterdays discoveries."

Harry nodded. The medi-witch had told him the same thing that morning.

"I also convinced her to fully quit drugging you - which means no more calming draughts unless you ask for them."

"Finally."

The Headmaster chuckled. "You'll want to keep a close eye on your temper and magic though. She's concerned you might blow up the hospital wing."

He groaned but nodded that he understood.

"While removing the curses that were placed on Severus will certainly help him. I fear that it may not be enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever a witch or wizard becomes injured, often potions and spells help them get well again. However, their innate magic often speeds the process along. That's why when you get hurt, you're never in here for more than a couple of days."

Harry looked intrigued, but confused.

"What does that have to do with him not getting better?"

"From the limited understanding I have of the Dark Mark, I know that Tom has access to Severus' power. That is how he is able to torture him through it. My belief is that if we could block Tom's access, then Severus' own magic can begin to help himself heal."

Harry nodded. That made sense to him. "How were you going to block it?"

"I have an idea that involves silver warding, but I wanted to know if you've ever read anything that deals with what I've described?"

"No, but I've not read everything on the subject yet. I suppose there could be books on it but I don't know for sure."

"Couldn't you just ask ...?"

Knowing to whom the Headmaster was referring, he shook his head no. "Normally, they don't interfere with current affairs. I'd have to physically go look. I also imagine they're a bit peeved at me too for breaking the wards and having to reapply them."

"The wards would be a reason I get a headache and can't speak nor write about what I saw?"

Harry nodded.

"Fascinating."

He snorted then asked, "Can we try your idea? I have to go back to class eventually."

"It's a bit complicated, so I need to do some more research. However, I was wondering if you would do something for me in the mean time?"

Harry nodded as Dumbledore produced some books from his robe.

"I want you to read these two books. Since the Dark Mark was placed using parseltongue, I believe the warding would best be done in parseltongue as well."

He glanced down at the books.

'**Combining Spells and Its Consequences'**

'**Magic Combined'**

"I'm confused ..."

"When you place the ward, I also want you to combine what I come up with and the return to sender spell. Combining spells is not something you would learn until your seventh year, and only then if you take advanced charms and advanced transfiguration. I need you to read up on it since it can be dangerous. I'll answer any questions you have about what you'll have read so far after we finish reviewing the memory this evening."

Harry nodded and sat the books on top of his homework.

"I need to go. I'll see you this evening. Remember, keep an eye on your temper."

"Alright."

After the Headmaster left, Harry very quietly got up and knelt beside of Snape's bed. He then placed both hands over the man's swollen Dark Mark.

Dumbledore was right. Voldemort was actively draining Snape's magic. Why hadn't he realized that before? It seemed so obvious now.

Shaking his head slightly, he released his hands and sat back down in his chair.

With another glance at Snape, he picked up one of the books the Headmaster had brought and began to read.

* * *

Dumbledore sat in his office stroking his beard.

It was well after midnight and he should be sleeping, but sleep eluded him - as it seemed to do a lot as of late.

He and Harry had finished viewing the pensieved memory earlier that night.

The cunning and quick thinking the boy - no - young man had shown was incredible. His eyes had widened when Harry had done an elemental spell, correctly. Elemental magic wasn't something that was taught anymore because most students never get a handle on it and end up in the infirmary, or worse, St. Mungo's.

Maybe that was something he could teach to Harry. If it gives him an edge over Tom, then it couldn't hurt. At any rate, it would even the playing field a bit because Tom knew elemental magic and could wield it as well.

Albus removed his glasses and rubbed at his temples as he thought about how Harry was able to do things while holding onto a Dark Mark that he wouldn't normally be able to do.

What little bit of doubt that had remained was dwindling away.

With an audible sigh, he put his glasses back on and picked up the book he was reading. He doubted he would get much sleep until he found the answer he was so desperately looking for.

* * *

"Yeah, I feel better," replied Harry as he glanced at Hermione. She and Ron had brought him the past two days worth of homework.

"What about Snape?" questioned Ron, curiously.

"There's not been any change. Dumbledore had me read two books on combining spells."

"Did you finish reading them?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah. I have a few questions for him about it, but if he thinks I have a good grip on it, we're going to test it tomorrow."

"When are you going to do it on Snape?" asked Ron as he helped himself to a handful of Berties Every Flavor Beans.

"If the practice runs go okay, then hopefully tomorrow night."

Hermione placed the two books back down. She had picked them up to read a couple of chapters. "That is really advanced magic, Harry."

Harry grimaced. "I know. More than once I had to re-read a chapter."

"Good luck. I hope it works," said Ron through a mouthful of flavored beans.

"We need to go. There's someone out there asleep with a broken leg. We don't want him to wake up and become suspicious as to why I can come in here without the fear of your Dragon Pox being contagious."

Harry nodded. "I'll see you two later."

After watching them leave, he sighed and picked up his Ancient Runes homework.

* * *

Harry was finishing up reading some notes the Headmaster had made regarding the warding when Madam Pomphrey appeared at his bedside.

"There still isn't any change."

His face fell. He and the Headmaster had done some trial warding on a few golems the night before. Toward the end of the evening, he had came close to combining the spells properly. If the trial run went well this evening, he was going to actually place the ward on Snape.

However, he had hoped that Snape would improve some on his own.

"I know it seems hard, but you need to start preparing yourself for the possibility that he might not make it. I'm doing all that I can and you heard the Order member that works at St. Mungos say that there isn't anything she could do that I'm not already doing."

"No! He isn't allowed to die," protested Harry. "I won't let him. I have questions that demand answers."

"You keep saying that, but if it really is his time, then you need to realize he's going to pass on regardless," she said gently.

Harry scowled and shook his head. "I don't believe its his time. He would already be gone if it was."

Madam Pomphrey paused then nodded her head in agreement. "You should know that I do believe he loves you. During your many hospital stays the past couple of years, he would often stay by your bed as you slept. He often calmed your nightmares without the need for a dreamless sleep draught."

Harry startled. "He did?"

Madam Pomphrey nodded and closed the private room doors as she left to go check on her other patients, effectively leaving Harry to his thoughts.

* * *

"You're ready Harry," stated Dumbledore.

He had managed to do the spell right on the second golem without it exploding or the spell backfiring in some weird way.

"Are you sure? I don't want to hurt him."

"I am. You rest for a few minutes while I go get more supplies and you a Pepper-Up potion."

Harry nodded and sat back down in a chair by the bedside.

Ten minutes later the Headmaster returned.

"Why does that silver wire look different?"

"You can tell?" asked the Headmaster, surprised.

"That one has ... I dunno ... more of a glittery appearance and looks heavier."

Dumbledore smiled. "You're right on both accounts. It looks different because I've added my own protection spells to it already."

Harry became alarmed. "Won't that interfere with what I'm about to do?"

The Headmaster smiled. "Not at all. I was very careful with what I added and as long as the translation of the return to sender spell you gave me was correct, then they will not counteract the other magic."

Harry still looked a little pensive, but nodded.

After everything was set up, Harry picked up his wand and the silver warding wire and began incanting in parseltongue.

"_Malashistapul dahtein ohistafe-ohh, Terrinkshtay-ahee kasah eessahhast, leenescee solhayliie eelitapithsah, ahsheshmetshtol Tiah Eahlent eeshnah._

_Shixs-hai-thay shou-fholp-ahno, Tuoees-tahl nistaheet, sohl-fholkee kasah eessahhast eeiss kasah eesstay-ahhtay-hai aiecth-sah._

_Malashistapul, Terrinkshtay-ahee, Leenescee, Ahseshmetshtol."_

By the time Harry had said the last word, he had placed the warding wire to coil around the Dark Mark and had traced his wand along it three times, placing the spells.

"Excellent job, Harry," exclaimed Dumbledore when the young man had stood up.

After a minute had passed and he felt he could speak again, he slowly turned to the Headmaster. "What ... was that?"

"What do you mean?"

"As I did that, I felt a wave of magic go through me that I've never felt before. It almost took the wind out of me."

Dumbledore frowned. "Was it different than your trial runs?"

"_Very_ different."

The Headmaster quickly scanned Severus. "You applied it correctly."

"So it's working?"

"Touch it and see for yourself."

Harry gently touched the silver coil. "It's hot! Won't it burn him?"

"No. That means it's working."

"Is it permanent?"

"Most likely not. I will keep an eye on it. We may have to reapply it again."

Harry nodded that he understood.

"As for the extra power you felt, maybe it was caused by the magic that was already on the coil."

"Maybe ..." replied Harry.

"You get some sleep. I'll check on you both later tonight. Remus should also be up here soon."

"Yes, sir."

As Harry put his pajamas on, it suddenly occurred to him where the boost of power came from. He placed his hand on the castle wall, again comforted by the magic he felt coming from it, and said a soft "thank you".

* * *

It was two days before Madam Pomphrey said that there was a little improvement in Snapes condition.

"Don't get your hopes completely up though," she said gently. "He may still never wake up."

Harry frowned but nodded.

That evening, he questioned Dumbledore about something that had been bothering him for quite a while.

"Sir, in my memory, you heard and saw the Death Eaters training. When am I going to get training like that?"

Dumbledore sighed, looking suddenly his age. "I ... am hesitant to teach you advanced magic. Not because I don't think you could do it, but more so because I would feel as if I am training a weapon. And you are _not_ a weapon."

"But I'm no match for them. You saw them in the memory, what all they can do."

"You done well against Severus' guards."

"That's because I had the element of surprise and invisibility. I was lucky and know it. I don't even know what any of those training spells did that I heard them practicing."

The Headmaster frowned. "I am still hesitant, but I agree that you could use some advanced training in defense. After we see what is going to happen with your father (Harry inadvertently startled at the term), I'll see about expanding your knowledge in Elemental Magic."

Harry's eyes lit up for the first time in weeks. "Really?"

"Really." The Headmaster smiled. "I'll also see about having the other Order members teach you as well. It's best to learn different styles of fighting."

Harry grinned. "Thank you, sir."

The Headmaster nodded and watched in silence as Harry alternately worked on his homework and stared at Severus.

* * *

On the morning of the 14th, Madam Pomphrey came in the room and after scanning Snape told Harry what she found. "The scans are getting better, but there is still no change in his mental status."

Harry sighed with frustration. Maybe Snape didn't want to come back. Maybe Madam Pomphrey was right. He looked back up in time to hear her say, "and you'll be returning to classes tomorrow as well."

"What?" Harry was slightly stunned by that revelation. "What if he needs me while I'm in class? What if the warding fails?"

"It has been holding up just fine and the required quarantine time for Dragon Pox is over. You need to resume your studies and what little bit of normalcy that you can."

Harry scowled. "Okay, but I'll be back to sit with him after classes are over."

The medi-witch nodded as if she suspected as much.

* * *

The next morning, Ron and Hermione met Harry at the infirmary door.

"You going to come back to the dorm tonight, mate?"

Harry shook his head. "No. I need to be here in case I'm needed."

"Did you get all of your homework done?"

"Yeah. Where does the school think Snape is again?"

"The Headmaster announced a couple of weeks ago that he was gone on a family emergency. He's been teaching potions."

"Yeah. Neville's only exploded one cauldron in two weeks," interjected Ron.

Harry chuckled softly.

When he reached the Great Hall, everyone watched his progress to the Gryffindor table.

Some things, apparently, never change. Of course, no one had really seen him since before break began either, other than the first evening back.

Plus, he wasn't wearing his glasses now. So that gave them another reason to stare.

Thankfully, as he took his seat, Ron and Hermione sat on each side of him. He had no sooner put food on his plate when Hedwig flew in with a _Daily Prophet_, which was odd since there were no other post owls behind her. Surely she didn't out fly them all?

She landed in front of him, dropping the paper in his hands.

"Hey girl, I've missed you." He fed her a piece of his bacon. As she ate it, she pointedly looked at the paper. He frowned and slowly opened it. What he saw caused him to swear under his breath.

**Death Eater is Boy-Who-Lived Biological Father**

"Thanks for the warning, Hedwig." He quickly gathered his belongings and bolted for the door with Ron and Hermione on his heels.

"How did they find out?" demanded Hermione.

"Voldemort told all of his followers. No doubt they knew what day I'd return to class and held onto this until now."

From where they stood in the Entrance Hall, they heard a collective gasp from the Great Hall, indicating that everyone else had just received their Daily Prophet.

"I wonder if my Dragon Pox can suddenly come back."

"Harry, you can't miss any more classes. This is our O.W.L. year."

"Yeah, I know Hermione. Let's get to Binns' classroom."

Once there, Harry fully read the article. By the time he was done, he was furious. It indicated all sorts of things about him, his mother, his dad, and Snape. '_Honestly, how could the prophet be allowed to print this rubbish?_' he wondered.

When he looked up, his classmates had arrived and were all looking at him as if he had the plague.

If he made it through this day without blowing anyone up, it would be an absolute miracle.

* * *

Severus was in Lily's arms. Their reunion had been blissful.

Yet, he couldn't help feeling as if something was wrong.

"What is it, Sev?"

"I'm not sure. I feel like something is missing."

"I felt like that for a long time, until you showed up."

"Do you not have the same feeling then?"

Lily humored him and closed her eyes. "It could be that Harry isn't here with us yet."

"Harry?" asked Severus.

"Our son, silly," said Lily as she kissed him again.

"Our son ... my son," he said around the kiss.

With a sudden start, a clear picture of Harry entered his mind.

"No, Sev. You can't leave. You've only just arrived."

"He'll be left alone, Lily. I need to go back to him."

She kissed him again. "Go on. Be the father I have always known you could be. I'll be waiting for you when it is your time to be with me again."

In the infirmary, Severus was tossing and turning, plus groaning. Madam Pomphrey was trying to get him to calm down.

"Son ..." he muttered hoarsely.

Poppy's eyes widened. He appeared to be waking up. She quickly sent her patronus to Albus.

"Son, where ...?" he groaned again.

The medi-witch quickly spelled a calming draught into his stomach.

The result was instantaneous.

Severus sat straight up in the bed.

"Where is my son?"

* * *

A/N: I willingly accept the flogging that I'm going to get because I was so late in posting this. RL has been nuts. I'm currently moving in with my dad and little brother, even though I'm still taking care of the other half of my family that's another state away.

Anyway, at first this chapter was like 1000 words long and I was like, that won't do! So, I parked myself in one of the libraries near my dad's house and I worked on this chapter for a solid week. My dad thinks I'm abnormal now b/c I like to go to the library instead of going out. hehe I hope it made sense.

As for Poppy noticing Snape at Harry's bedside, I mean c'mon, the woman practically knows when her patients eyes open. How could she not know this? She just figured it was him looking out for Lily's son, as opposed to him looking out for his son. She just never let on to Severus that she knew he was there.

As for the next chapter, well, it desperately needs reworked too. I took some of it and moved it up into this chapter without even realizing it. So I'm not sure what all it contains at the moment. I have another car load of stuff to unpack, so once I get it unpacked and put up, I'll be going back to the library to work on the next chapter. (I work better there, it forces me to focus lol.) Hopefully it'll be up before too long.

*sneaks and places food out for reviews amidst my flogging*


	102. Waking Up

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or anything thereof, but I really wish I did! hehe

* * *

Chapter 102

* * *

Albus had been on his way to dinner when Poppy's patronus had caught him.

It had been a long day, though he suspected it had been an even longer day for Harry.

First, _The Daily Prophet_ announced the truth to everyone. Then his staff had demanded the truth before they would head off to teach their own classes (except for Trelawney who kept saying she knew the truth all along).

As far as he knew, Harry had refrained from lashing out, but he figured that it was only a matter of time.

Albus entered the private room to see Severus demanding to see his son.

"Severus, calm down. Harry is fine."

"Albus?"

The Headmaster nodded. "Sit back and let Poppy scan you."

"Why am I here?" he asked hoarsely.

"What do you remember?"

Severus shook his head. "I ... I'm unsure."

"Take a deep breath, Severus. Calm yourself."

"Why? What happened? Where is Harry?"

Albus sighed. Clearly stubbornness ran in the family.

"You were discovered a traitor by Voldemort."

Severus' hand shot to his left arm, which let him discover the warding wire.

"Leave that be, Severus. It's blocking Voldemort's access to your magic."

"I don't understand. If the Dark Lord discovered my betrayal, how am I alive?" he asked slowly.

"Harry rescued you," stated the Headmaster simply.

"Excuse me?"

"He knows the truth, Severus."

Severus froze.

"He learned the truth from Voldemort."

"No."

Albus nodded.

"Where is he? Is he alright?" He made to leave the bed.

Poppy shot a binding spell at him. "You are not to leave that bed, Severus Snape."

"Calm down Severus. Harry is fine. He's hardly left your bedside. Today was the first day he resumed classes. I imagine he'll be up here at any moment."

"He ... doesn't hate me?"

"Oh, he's quite angry at you for keeping this from him, but his anger has been replaced by worry for the past two weeks."

Two weeks? He had been unconscious for two weeks?

Severus then glared at Poppy. "Release me."

"I will do no such thing. You will calm yourself or I will spell you back to sleep."

* * *

"No Ron. I need some peace and quiet. It was a miracle I kept from hexing anyone today."

"Are you going to sleep here?"

"Yeah. Even my own house mates are treating me like I'm contagious."

"Once they see you're not any different, they'll calm down."

"I dunno. According to Seamus, being Snape's son means I'm Voldemort reincarnated."

"Honestly. People will believe anything they read," said Hermione. "You'd think they'd know _The Prophet_ was trash by now."

The adults in the private room exchanged looks as the trio conversed amongst themselves.

"We have prefect rounds, Harry. If you want, we can come by afterwards."

"No. I'm just going to study then turn in early. See you two in the morning."

Harry watched his best friends leave, then he entered the room where Snape was being kept. He froze when he saw the man awake and looking at him.

* * *

So many things entered into Severus' mind. It was practically impossible to grab onto one in particular.

"How long have you been awake?" asked a clearly shocked Harry. _'And why didn't anyone come to get me?'_ he wondered.

"About 15 minutes," said the Headmaster when Severus didn't appear to be able to answer him.

Harry stayed at the door way. "How are you feeling, sir?"

"I'm fine, Potter."

Harry inadvertently winced.

"Harry," Snape quickly corrected.

"Is he fine?"

"No," said Madam Pomphrey. However, she took advantage of Severus no longer struggling to scan him again with a different diagnostic spell.

Harry and Snape just stared at each other.

"Take these Severus," she said summoning vials of potions from her cupboard.

The potion master briefly looked away from Harry to see what he was taking. Satisfied, he downed them and relaxed back into the bed.

Harry sat down in a chair near the door.

Before anyone could say anything though, Remus came bursting into the room.

"Harry, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Remus," he said shortly.

Remus then followed Harry's gaze and saw that Severus was awake.

"Oh, Severus! Thank Merlin!"

Dumbledore conjured a chair for Remus so that he could sit down along with everyone else.

"Now that we're all here, I need you, Severus, to think back to the last thing you remember. That way we'll know where to start filling you in at."

"I ... I remember your ultimatum," said Severus hesitantly.

Albus sighed. "On the first, around three in the morning, you were summoned. Voldemort had learned of your true loyalty, which made him angry enough that he broke through Harry's shields."

"I learned through _Voldemort_ that you were my father. Do you know what that did to me?" demanded Harry, suddenly unable to keep quiet.

Severus winced.

Albus kept speaking before Harry could release his pent up emotions on Severus. "Harry evidently tried to stop you because he saw that your cover had been blown. When he couldn't, he followed you to Voldemort's Headquarters. You were both gone for over a day, but he managed to bring you back to Hogwarts."

"How ...?" Severus trailed off, clearly unsure of which question to pursue first.

"Harry put the memory in my pensieve for me. With his permission, in a couple of days, I'd like to show it to you. It will answer a number of your questions."

Harry got an alarmed expression on his face. "Maybe it's good that he doesn't remember. I heard what all he was put through."

"I need to know. I need to remember," stated Severus, "what was done to me."

Harry sighed, but nodded. "Okay, but only after you are a little bit better."

Before Severus could protest, the Headmaster nodded. "He's right. You've only just awoken. You need to recover more of your strength before you view the memory."

"But -"

"You were held for over a day," said Harry. "It's a long memory. They made me sleep for almost a solid four days once we came back. You should sleep longer."

Realizing he was outnumbered, Severus simply nodded (which was a token of how tired he really felt).

"However, I demand to be released to my quarters," he stated.

"Absolutely not," huffed Madam Pomphrey. "You're lucky to be alive. You may still relapse. I need you here where I can keep an eye on you."

"I will be fine in a few days, so I demand to be released."

"No."

To Harry's surprise, the medi-witch spelled Snape to sleep before he could react.

"It won't hold him long," stated Madam Pomphrey. "I need you to leave Mr. Potter. You may visit again tomorrow, but tonight, he needs his rest - not the constant Q&A that is bound to happen between the two of you."

Harry had been amused when Madam Pomphrey spelled Snape to sleep. He had thought he was bad while he had been a patient, but Snape made him look like an angel.

"Potter, go on back to your dorm," Madam Pomphrey said again.

He paused as he stood up. He didn't feel like putting up with his house mates yet. He was still upset with Remus so that ruled out saying with him and besides, Remus looked to be staying here with Snape for the time being. He hadn't counted on Snape waking up so soon, and he was definitely still angry at him.

"Go on, Potter." The medi-witches tone left no room for argument.

Harry picked up his book bag and went out in the main part of the infirmary. He frowned. He had no where to go.

Running his hand through his hair, he headed to the Founder's Library. At least he'd be able to get his homework done there.

* * *

Severus woke up a couple of hours later. He took in his surroundings. A glance out of the window told him that it was dark out.

There were two chairs present but they were currently unoccupied.

A sharp pain went through his leg, causing him to wince. He then realized his left arm was numb.

Just as he raised it to try to inspect it, Poppy came around the corner.

"Leave that be, Severus," she stated again. "Albus and Potter put that on the Dark Mark to block You-Know-Who's access to you and your magic."

"Where's Harry?" was the first thing he thought to ask.

"His dorm I imagine. I sent him away when I spelled you asleep earlier."

"You did what?" he demanded.

"I didn't need him hovering when you woke up. You need to rest right now, not be bothered by questions."

Severus sneered. "You are to _never_ send him away from me. If he wants to stay, you are to let him."

Poppy shivered at Severus' tone but nodded that she understood.

"Where's Albus?"

"Right here, Severus. How are you feeling?" The Headmaster rounded the corner and sat in a chair by his bed.

"Fine," he lied.

"You are not fine. I need to know what's wrong with you so I can give you the appropriate medicines."

"My left leg has sharp stabs of pain going through it and my left arm is numb."

"Hmm," said Albus. "It's possible we wrapped the coil too tightly, but that's more than likely due to the abuse Tom has been trying to give you through it."

"What happened to me, Albus?" At this point, he would settle for any type of answer - so long as it was an answer.

The Headmaster sighed. "Harry told me some of the tortures you endured, the scans told me the same. The memory showed me the rest. You were dying Severus. After Harry rescued you, there were several times you stopped breathing. Just as we got you stable again, you would be tortured through your Dark Mark. Harry stopped that as well."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't think he'll mind if I show you that memory now. We can watch it above the penseive." Albus quickly retrieved it from Madam Pomphrey's office.

As they viewed it, they noticed that the outer edge of the memory was dimmed.

The Headmaster frowned. That meant that Harry was in a lot of pain. He had lied and said it wasn't that bad.

"Where did he learn parseltongue spells?" demanded Severus, more than a little alarmed.

Albus opened his mouth to reply but a headache hit him. "Evidently there is a lot of information the castle holds."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting. Severus, everyone knows the truth. Harry returned to classes today and it was conveniently leaked to the _Daily Prophet_ today as well."

"Why was he missing classes?"

"When I woke up on the 2nd, both of your clocks said Mortal Peril. I searched the castle, hoping they were broken. When we could not locate either of you, we spread it around that Harry had Dragon Pox, and you got called away for various reasons."

"So he missed two weeks of classes?"

"He had too, Severus. He had been exposed to so much Dark Magic and had exhausted his own magical core so badly that we had to keep him drugged for over a week to keep him from harming himself. Not that it kept him from performing magic when you starting being tortured ... as you saw."

Severus frowned. "How is he?"

"Physically, fine. Emotionally is a different story. He's quiet. He's upset at both Remus and myself, only talking to us as needed. He's very angry at you, and sad as well. He believes you don't want him."

"What? Why would he believe that?"

"Because Remus and I both told him that we were waiting on _you_ to tell him the truth."

"And because I couldn't, he assumes I don't want him," finished Severus. "Could this be even more of a mess?"

"I'm sure it could. Rest Severus. I'm sure Harry will be down to see you tomorrow. If you are feeling up to it, we can view the memory of what happened then."

Severus scowled but nodded.

* * *

Harry was currently in the Room of Requirement. The Founder's Library wouldn't grant him entrance - no doubt because he was still angry at most everyone.

As a distraction to his mess of a life, he threw himself into his homework. Unfortunately, he was done with all of it in two hours.

Harry sighed. He pulled out a book from his book bag that he had borrowed from the library during lunch. It was a book on Stealth Charms. He needed to keep his mind off of his current problems - which Merlin knew he had a lot of them.

While he was reading, he managed to fall asleep. Around 4:30 that morning, he dropped his wand, that he had fell asleep holding, to the ground.

The noise of it hitting the ground startled him so badly that he nearly fell out of his chair.

Try as he might, he could not go back to sleep after that - which led to him thinking. With a frown, he gathered his stuff up.

There was one question he needed to know the answer to now. It couldn't possibly wait any longer.

* * *

Severus winced as he adjusted himself in the bed. His left leg was hurting him pretty badly.

The glow from the window indicated that it was just now approaching dawn. He was still exhausted.

Just as he had been about to fall asleep again, he realized he was no longer alone.

Raising his head, he spied his son sitting in a chair by the door.

Clearly surprised, he asked, "Harry?"

Harry nodded. "I'm sorry to wake you, sir. How are you feeling?"

"Sore, but alive. What are you doing down here?"

"Couldn't sleep much. Besides, I have a question for you that can't wait any more."

Severus frowned but nodded for him to continue.

"Did you force yourself upon my mother?"

The question was asked very softly, but Severus could feel the anger emanating from the young man as he asked it.

"Absolutely not. What we done was completely consensual."

Harry nodded. Severus had noticed some of the tension leave him as soon as he had answered. "I had to know. Get some more sleep, sir. I need to go before Madam Pomphrey catches me in here."

Before he could utter a word, Harry was gone.

He sighed in frustration. If that had been the type of thoughts that the boy had been having, then this was not going to be easy.

It was clear to see that whatever trust he had managed to build with his son over the past couple of years was now shattered.

And that thought alone pained him much deeper than any physical pain ever could.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, this is shorter than I would have liked it and posted later than I would have liked to have posted it, but RL has been hectic. I've been torn between WV (where my grandpa was in the hospital for almost a month) and VA (where I now live) and unpacking and everything that goes along with that. Gotta love beauracy down here. I went to go get a Drivers License for VA and I can't because I don't have a checking account proving I have a local address. And I can't get a checking out because I don't have a drivers license showing my local addy. Sometimes I wonder ... I really do.

Anyway, the next chapter is definitely longer and it even includes a chat between Malfoy and Harry, which is always fun to write. hehe I want to have it up by next Monday, but I can't promise anything at this point. I have to go back to WV twice and take family members to various doctor's, plus my papaw's birthday is in a couple of weeks.

Also, where fanfiction removed my own line breaks, I've had some new readers say that the story is hard to follow, so over the next day or so, I'll be going back and adding them in. I warn you now because I'm not sure if that will cause those that have subscribed to the story to get update notices or not. If it's before this chapter, then I'm not updating it ... yet. Eventually I'll go back and fix a few words here and there, but what I'm about to do is to just fix the line breaks.

As always, reviews are good! I thank everyone who has followed the story thus far and leave little notes. They really do encourage me. =) I also thank those that are the silent readers. *leaves out munchies and gets to work on fixing the previous chapters line breaks*


	103. Talks Galore

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or much of anything for that matter. *pout*

* * *

Chapter 103

* * *

Later that morning found Severus slowly blinking as he looked around the room. He scowled when he realized where he was. _'That's right, I'm in the hospital wing.'_ He very carefully reached over to the table where his wand should have been and frowned. It wasn't there. He looked under his pillow. It wasn't there either.

"I have it, Severus. I didn't want you to disable my bed alarms. Besides, you are too weak to do any type of magic at the moment."

"Return my wand, Poppy. I wish to go to my quarter's."

Madam Pomphrey sighed. "Severus, I know you hate the hospital wing, but you really are going to need to be here at least until the weekend. I'm still healing the damage done to your leg, arm, and back."

"You can come to my quarter's then to do so."

"I can't Severus. I need you here where the hospital wing can monitor you. You literally died twice. Albus and I both believed that you would not wake up. Remus kept insisting that you would and Harry kept telling you that you better." She quickly performed three different types of diagnostic scans. "Your magical core isn't as exhausted as it was and your bones are now mended. I'll return in two hours to put some burn salve on your back. If you get bored, call for a house elf to bring you some books. And just so you aren't tempted, the door is spelled to not let you out unless I'm with you." That said, she strode out of the room.

Severus sighed. _'That woman is so stubborn.'_

Perhaps 10 minutes later, just as he had started to drift back to sleep, he looked up to see an elf staring at him. "Yes?"

"Professor Snape, I be asked to give this to you."

"Who is it from?"

"Harry Potter, sir."

Severus took it from the wide-eyed elf. "Thank you."

"You is being welcome." The elf then snapped his finger's and vanished.

_Professor,_

_I hope you're feeling better today. I asked Dobby to bring this to you and leave it on your table in case you were sleeping. I won't be down today. I need some time to think and I don't believe Madam Pomphrey would appreciate me blowing up half of the hospital wing. My temper isn't the best right now._

_You and Professor Dumbledore can go ahead and view the memory of your rescue without me. I'm not quite ready to relive it again. Just the thought of all the Dark Magic that was in the house makes me queasy. _

_Once you're feeling better and I don't feel the need to blow up everything around me, I'll be back down to talk to you. I have a lot of questions._

_-Harry_

Severus sighed as he read the letter. He carefully folded it and placed it under his pillow. He then fell into a restless sleep - the conversation that had taken place in the early dawn being the source of his nightmare.

* * *

"We'll have to view it above the pensieve, Severus. You aren't well enough yet to actually dive into the memory."

"Fine. Just play it already."

The Headmaster rolled his eyes and tapped his wand against the pensieve - making the memory that it currently held play above the device.

It started off with Harry running through Hogwarts. He was under his invisibility cloak, but since it was his memory, they could both tell where he was.

"He saw me apparate away? I didn't even realize he was there."

The next second showed why. "He has silencing charms on himself," said the Headmaster.

The memory darkened as he apparated away. When he bounced, they could tell. They watched as he hung around on the outside of the property. About three minutes later, Severus blinked in disbelief. "He just _walked_ through the wards?"

"He did. He told me he could tell they were there, but not that there was anything special about them. I suspect that Tom used his blood for one of the wards' layer's - and if you'll remember, he has some of Harry's blood running through his veins."

"Which is why he was able to walk through them," said Severus with understanding.

It was perhaps 15 minutes into the memory when Severus frowned. "How did the Dark Lord not know that he was there? It clear that Harry can tell He was on the property."

"That, I can only speculate about," replied the Headmaster with a frown.

They watched as Harry made his way through the house, hiding in whatever dark corners he could. He had almost been discovered three times by various wandering Death Eater's. Severus was beside himself with anger. It seemed that the boy had heard _all_ of his tortures. It was one thing for Albus to see and hear this, but something entirely different for his son to bare witness to his humiliation.

During some of the slower parts when Harry had not moved from a corner, Albus had sped the memory up a tad. Otherwise, it would take a full day to view the entire thing. Severus had protested at first because that meant he wouldn't hear what was being done to him but a glare from Albus had silenced him.

"I wonder where Nagini was during this. If she had been at the house, Harry would have been discovered right away."

"I'm not sure. Maybe Tom had her out doing something. You've got to admit that Harry has good luck in regards to some things."

"If that's what you want to call it," muttered Severus.

Around 10pm, they took a break to eat something and discuss what they had seen thus far. "We'll finish viewing it tomorrow, Severus. I need to get some sleep and so do you."

To Severus frustration, the Headmaster took the pensieve with him. Sighing, he rolled over and went to sleep.

* * *

The next evening, the Headmaster walked in to see Severus taking notes from a book. "I thought Poppy said to take it easy this week?"

"She did. I needed something to do, so I'm currently researching a way to improve the _Reprimere Memoria_ potion."

"Any particular reason why?"

"Because the current version does not work for me since I've used it so much."

"Severus, your mind represses things for a reason. You should not tamper with what your body does not want you to remember."

As a response, Severus only sneered.

"Do you feel up to viewing the rest of the memory today?"

Severus nodded.

Four hours into the memory (with some parts sped up again), they watched in fascination as Harry moved throughout the manor, skillfully dodging Death Eater's as he placed various spells on doors, chairs, walls, and even an entire section of the floor.

He was almost caught by Wormtail once, but that was mostly due to Harry's own stupidity. Pettigrew had passed within arms' reach at one point. While Harry was under his invisibility cloak, they could still see that he was itching to get his hands on the man. They both could tell that he was having an internal debate with himself. Eventually the rat like man had walked away, unaware of the danger that he had just been in, because Severus had no doubt that if Harry had gotten his hands on him, while he wouldn't have killed him, he would have come very close.

In the memory, as Harry was finishing up his distraction, they heard Severus screaming from torture. It was unnerving. As the boy made his way back to the basement, they watched as he almost set the trap off on himself.

"That would have been about right. Setting up the elaborate trap only to get caught in it himself," muttered Severus.

They then listened and watched as the screams from the Death Eater's upstairs drew the Dark Lord away from Severus. "He had been about to kill me," murmured Severus. "Harry really did save my life."

Albus nodded.

Five minutes later they watched in shock as Harry broke through the wards in the basement. "How ... How did he do that?"

"Harry said that he could tell there were wards up, but not that they were anything special."

Severus could only stare.

The memory ended a few minutes later.

"My ... my. It's one thing to be told about this, but it's something else all together to see it, especially a second time through. You have an extraordinary son, Severus." When the man didn't even make a noise regarding that statement, Albus turned around to look at him. He was deep in thought. "Severus? Severus!"

"What?" he asked quietly.

"What are you thinking about?"

"How is he that powerful? I don't understand. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that he can see magical signatures."

Albus smiled. "I think it's wonderful. And you're clearly underestimating your own power. Lily was also quite powerful. I remember her hexes being unblockable."

Severus winced. He had learned that from first hand experience when he made her upset at him. They couldn't be dodged, evaded, or blocked against. They also shattered any shield. "But to be almost as powerful at you?"

"Severus," Albus said as gently as he could, "I believe Harry has already passed me up, and if not, then he will soon."

Severus merely looked at the Headmaster as if he had sprouted three heads.

* * *

Harry stormed out of the castle. He needed to be alone and he needed to be alone _now_.

At the door, he scanned the grounds and took off in the direction of the lake.

It was Friday. Four days since Snape had woken up, four days since the world knew the truth that Snape didn't even want _him_ to know.

Four days since he had last seen him.

The past week was a nightmare. The teasing, taunting, and the lewd insinuations were merciless. Years with the Dursley's had taught him a great deal of self control but it was seriously being tried now.

He found a spot near the lake, and using a nifty charm Flitwick had taught them their second year, melted the snow around a rock, and plopped down on it.

The cold air made him feel numb, which was good right now.

He thought back to dinner and what a 6th year had said.

"Bet the reason Snape isn't around anymore is because he doesn't want you, Potter. I mean, who would? You're nothing but an attention seeking liar."

He would have expected that from the Slytherins, but that had come from his own housemate.

Surprisingly, the Slytherin's were being really quiet on the subject. He had even caught Gabriella giving him a look he couldn't interpret.

The liar comment had come because he had been over heard having a conversation with Ron and Hermione on Tuesday.

"_I'm sorry, Harry. I've been passing on what I hear to McGonagall to be punished."_

"_Don't worry about it. It only makes it worse. Honestly, just because the prophet said Snape is a Death Eater and my father doesn't mean __I'm__ going to turn into a Death Eater. That's like saying that because Malfoy's dad is a Death Eater, he's going to be one too."_

"_Uh ... Harry," said Ron carefully. "Malfoy __will__ probably become a Death Eater."_

_Harry rolled his eyes. "There's still hope for the ferret. He isn't all bad."_

Of course, a Hufflepuff had heard their conversation and spread it around before he could be stopped. As a result, the liar comment was now being directed toward him. Evidently some still respected the Malfoy name. Ron figured the boy's dad worked for Mr. Malfoy in some capacity or another.

He took in a deep breath and idly wondered if he could just disappear.

He was utterly exhausted. His friends thought he was sleeping in the infirmary, which he hadn't been back to. He had been spending his time in the Room of Requirement. The Founder's Library was still denying him entrance, which meant he was, yet again, holding onto too much anger.

But could anyone blame him?

He had been lied too!

First, evidently his mother had lied to Snape about him. Remus had lied to everyone - not outright but by omission. Dumbledore had told him that he had always suspected that Snape was his father, but never checked until his second year.

He knew about the paternity test and such now, but he still couldn't help but be angry.

When Sirius had died, he thought for sure he was alone again. He knew that Remus and Dumbledore both would have made good guardians but he doubted it would have been the same.

They both swore up and down that Snape wanted him but where was the proof? For all he knew, what Snape had been going to tell him was that they would never be a family - that serving Voldemort and spying came first.

In his mind, family should always come first, but maybe that was because he never had a proper one. Maybe it was simply different in the Wizarding World.

He furiously rubbed his eyes. He would not cry. It was a sign of weakness.

"Why does my life have to be so damn complicated?" he asked himself out loud.

A few minutes later Harry felt another presence. Without turning around he closed his eyes and tried to sense who it was.

"What do you want Malfoy?"

"How did you know it was me?"

"I have my ways. What do you want? I'm not in the best of moods."

"So I noticed, though I have to say that I was disappointed you didn't curse your housemate."

Harry rolled his eyes.

Without asking, Malfoy sat down next to him on the rock.

"Oh, do feel free to join me," said Harry sarcastically.

"Really Potter. Sarcasm doesn't suit you. How's Snape?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I know he's in the hospital wing and not away on some trip. You'd have to be an idiot not to realize this."

"So everyone knows?"

"No, but most people are idiots. How is he?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because he's my Head of House."

"That can't be the only reason."

"It's not."

Harry glanced at Malfoy.

"Look. I know he only just tolerates me, but I've always thought of him as a godfather to me."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"When I was younger, he saved me from my father's wrath more than once, and I began to look up to him."

Harry sighed. "He's awake now, but I've not seen him since he woke up."

"So you really didn't know?"

"No. I didn't know."

"Why haven't you seen him?"

"I have my reasons."

"Potter, the entire castle can see that you're upset. The only way you are going to calm down and get answers is if you talk to him."

"Why do you care, Malfoy?" asked Harry listlessly.

"I once heard my father ask Snape why he hadn't settled down and married. His response was that he had no time for a wife and child."

Harry stiffened.

"I heard my father talking to my mother later that night, saying that Snape appeared to still be hung up on the mudblood."

Harry turned to glare at Malfoy.

"His words, not mine," protested the blonde quickly.

Clearly Malfoy didn't want to be on the receiving end of Harry's temper.

"It's clear you want a family. Well, now you have one."

"He doesn't want me, otherwise he'd have told me as soon as he learned it himself."

"Maybe he has legitimate reasons to have kept this from you. You won't know until you ask him. You have a good thing here Potter, whether you know it or not."

Malfoy stood up.

"Before you leave, do most Wizarding families consider family or duty to be more important?"

"Most of the time, there is no difference."

The blonde started to walk away but halted when Harry called his name.

"Whose side are you on anyway?"

Malfoy smirked. "My own Potter. And Potter ... thanks for thinking I'm not a hopeless case but really, enough with the ferret name calling."

Harry grinned. "I dunno. Ferret boy suits you pretty well."

"Right. And Scar Head, next time, curse your house mate. It will amuse me."

"Because we all know the world revolves around you," added Harry blandly.

He watched as Malfoy walked away and turned to think about the conversation he had just had.

* * *

"Still not been to see you?"

"No and Poppy won't release me so I can track him down."

"He's held onto his temper quite well this week. What's confusing me is that the Slytherin's are just staring at him. It's his own housemates that are being rude."

"I imagine most of the Slytherin's assume I'm dead from their Death Eater father's. I can only imagine the chaos all this is going to cause when they realize I'm not. Harry's not hiding his emotion's behind his occlumency shields again is he?"

"No. I've been watching him very closely."

Severus nodded.

"How is your arm? Any pain going through it?"

"It is no longer numb but the pain is tolerable. It feels like it's a residual pain from what it's been through."

"I can always ask Harry to reapply it. He knows that it might have to be reapplied."

"I won't ask him to do that."

"You don't have a choice, sir," said Harry as he came around the corner. "If it's hurting, I want to reapply it. Voldemort might have found a way around it. I'm sure _he_ knows you're still alive."

"Harry," started Severus. "I do not want you to feel obligated to help me." The boy was becoming a little too good with his stealthing abilities.

"But I want to help. Even if you weren't my f-father, I'd still want to help. It's the Gryffindor in me."

"We could do it now Severus, if you wish. Then I can leave you and Harry to talk."

"I ... need more time. Let me help you now, sir, and I promise ... that if you want to, we can talk tomorrow."

Severus nodded and watched in fascination as Albus and Harry worked together to remove the silver warding wire and add the new one.

As soon as it was set in place, his left arm felt a new kind of relief.

"How does it feel, sir?" asked Harry hesitantly.

"Much better. Thank you both."

Harry nodded and made to leave.

"Potter."

Harry paused and turned around.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I really do want this to work between us."

Harry nodded and left the private room.

"What are you smiling about?" demanded Severus of Albus a few seconds later.

"You'll make a fine father, Severus. Just be patient through his anger. Now I need to go oversee a detention. If you need anything, have Poppy call for me."

"_You_ are over seeing a detention? Why?"

"That is not something you need to concern yourself with."

The Headmaster then swept out of the room.

* * *

A/N: I actually had a good time writing this chapter, especially the Malfoy conversation part. I'm sorry it took longer than a week to post it, but I made a trip back to WV sooner than I planned. All of my cousins came in for a funeral, and they decided that since they were there, they'd throw my papaw an early birthday party, which of course, meant I had to go in to help him celebrate. =)

I never got around to fixing the line breaks in the previous chapters that FF stole. So, if it causes any updates to appear now, I apologize. I'm just fixing the line breaks.

Up next, Harry and Severus finally sit down to talk ... at least a little bit. ;-)


	104. A Long Overdue Discussion

Disclaimer: *Looks under the bed* Hmm ... It appears that while I still don't own Harry Potter, I do own a lot of dust bunnies.

* * *

Chapter 104

* * *

Harry was a nervous wreck. His stomach was in knots. As a result, the couch in the Gryffindor common room exploded - which might not have been so bad had he not been sitting on it at the time.

"Harry, what has gotten into you?" demanded Hermione as she tried to repair it.

"We're supposed to finally sit down and talk tonight," he whispered as he repaired a cushion.

"You've not talked yet?" she asked surprised. "What do you do when you're up there with him?"

Harry looked away. It was Ron that saw his expression.

"You've not been back have you?" he accused.

"Yesterday."

"Where have you been staying?"

Harry shrugged. He couldn't tell her the Room of Requirement with so many eaves droppers. He was sure they were already curious as to what he was talking about.

"Since most of my house mates think I'm the spawn of evil reborn, I've not felt the most welcome here."

The 6th year that had been causing him the most trouble sent a glare his way.

"I just wish they would make up their mind about me already."

"What are you going to say?" asked Ron as he sat back down on the newly repaired couch.

"I have questions that demand answers. After that ... no idea."

"When are you going up there?"

"I figured I'd go after lunch."

"Potter!"

Harry looked up to see Angelina waving him over. "Yes?"

"Are you free for Quidditch tonight?"

"You all still want me on the team?" asked Harry surprised.

"Not everyone thinks you're turning into You-Know-Who. Besides, I don't care if it's found out you're You-Know-Who's son, the odds of us finding a better seeker are non existent. They'll all love you again when we win the next game."

Harry rolled his eyes. Some things never change. "I can't tonight, Angelina. I should be free tomorrow."

"You better be. Your Dragon Pox put us behind schedule."

An hour later found Harry heading to the hospital wing. When he knocked on the private room door and opened it, it was to see Snape sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You're being released today?" he asked, surprise evident on his face.

"Yes."

Harry could tell Snape was uncomfortable. Part of him was glad that he wasn't the only one.

"Do you feel like talking now?" he asked hesitantly.

"I do. I would prefer to do so in my quarter's. I hate the hospital wing. However, I realize this will most likely make you uncomfortable, so we can either go to Lupin's quarter's or to the Headmaster's office. Both have offered them for our use this morning."

"Your quarters' are fine, sir," said Harry. The last thing he needed was for Remus or Dumbledore to see his wrath as well.

Severus nodded. "We'll use the floo."

"Severus Snape, sit back down in that bed this instant!" said Madam Pomphrey as she rounded the corner.

He sneered. "I told you, I'm going to my quarter's today."

She huffed as she scanned him. "Very well. Take it easy for another day. No brewing unless you're seated."

Harry snickered quietly because the look Snape gave her indicated that he wasn't going to obey.

Five minutes later found Harry being dumped face first out of the floo into Snape's quarter's.

"Oww ..." he groaned. He didn't think he'd _ever_ get the hang of that.

"Have a seat Po ... Harry. I am going to change."

He watched as Snape disappeared through a door. He then looked around the room. There was more color present than he had anticipated. The main color was black, but there were also splashes of green and blue around as well.

His eyes then narrowed at something on the fireplace mantle. It was a clock with his name on it. There were different phrases: class, detention, out of bed, mischief, castle grounds, home, mortal peril, dying, dead.

Right now the arrow was pointing at home. He narrowed his eyes at it even more.

"It always says home when you are at the castle, and not in one of the other various places mentioned. The only exception was during this past summer when you were staying with your Godfather. It said home then as well."

Harry jumped. He hadn't heard Snape re-enter the room.

"Why do you have this?"

"To help me keep an eye on you. Though, it's supposed to be in my bedroom. I guess Albus moved it out here. Did you want anything to eat or drink?"

Harry shook his head before sitting down in a chair. Snape took the seat opposite of him.

"What did I do to you that was so bad that you didn't want me?" blurted Harry before he could stop himself. It was the question that he wanted answered the most.

Snape winced. "Once I got over the shock of the truth, I wanted you instantly, but I did not believe I could be a good father to you."

"Why didn't _you_ tell me anyway? Do you know what it did to me to learn from _Voldemort_ that you were my father?"

"I tried, several times, as I'm sure you'll recall."

"You should have tried harder! All you had to say was, 'I'm your father!'"

Snape raised an eyebrow at him. "And you would have believed me?"

"Maybe not at first, but I'm sure if you showed me proof ..."

"Has Albus taken you to retrieve the letter your mother wrote to you yet?"

"My mom wrote me a letter?"

Severus sighed. "She did. I assumed he or Remus would have taken you already."

Harry fidgeted in his seat. "I've been avoiding them. I'm upset with them too."

"There's no need to be upset with them. They have been encouraging me to tell you the truth. I told them not to tell you themselves."

Harry recalled what Snape had said to him this past summer. "You told me that in the grand scheme of things, what you had to tell me was not important. Is having a family not important to you?" He couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice.

"Of course it is." Snape looked around the room before focusing on him again. "I ... am not proud of my past but I knew that I would be in an excellent position to help bring the Dark Lord down from the inside. It was an opportunity that could not be wasted. I knew you would be alright with Black. Of course, there was also that connection that appeared between you and the Dark Lord. I had to wait for you to learn occlumency."

"And after I learned it?"

"The day I discovered Umbridge's blood quill, I had planned on telling you, but it distracted me."

"And after that?" snarled Harry.

"Your Godfather was killed."

"Excuses!" yelled Harry.

To his surprise, Snape nodded. "They _were_ just excuses. I was ... afraid you wouldn't want me in your life once you had Black."

Harry suddenly burst out laughing, which caused Snape to narrow his eyes at him.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh. But I can only imagine Sirius' reaction to all of this." He was then brought up short. "Did Sirius know?" Remus had said that he didn't, but Snape might have told him without Remus finding out.

"No. Your mother had written him a letter as well. He never received it."

"How do you know?"

"Because she left it in my keeping. Albus was going to give it to him the week he went missing."

"Can ... Can I see the copy of my mom's letter to you?"

Snape's eyes narrowed. He then got up and disappeared into a back room.

Harry leaned back into the chair. His mind had so many thoughts running through them, that it was hard to just latch onto one.

Did he really want this? Was Snape keeping anything else from him? Was anyone _else_ keeping anything from him? Would this put Snape in anymore danger than he was already in? Why did Remus and Dumbledore pressure Snape into telling me? Did they really not want to be his guardians?

He didn't realize he had asked that last question out loud until Snape answered him.

"Of course they wanted you. It had more to do with the fact that they knew I wanted you more."

Harry startled, which in turn caused some books to fly off of a nearby shelf. "Sorry, sir. Sneaking up on me is bad."

Severus eyed the books before waving his wand to set them right. "I was surprised Pettigrew got in here and past my wards, and that he only took a copy of my letter. He appeared to have left the photo album alone."

"He probably caused a diversion to sneak in and then used the Silent Sneaker Jinx," said Harry automatically as he eyed the contents in Snape's hands.

"There is no such jinx."

"There is. My d..." Here Harry faltered. "Remus, Sirius, and them invented it. They can get past most traditional wards without setting off the alarm. It was in a book that Sirius had given me that listed all of their pranks and spells and such."

"Harry ... James is your father as well. You can call him dad in my presence. I don't want you to feel any more uncomfortable than you already do. If we are going to make this work, it will take time and effort from the both of us."

Harry slowly nodded as he reached for the items Snape held out and began to read the letter.

"She was going to let me find out the truth when I turned 17?"

"I don't know what her letter says to you. If you want, I can have Lupin take you to get it tomorrow."

Harry nodded. He then flipped through the photo album. Without realizing it, he had tears running down his face.

This looked like he had a normal childhood.

He tried searching his memories for these events, but all he could come up with was the blinding green light of his parents being murdered.

Harry then tensed.

"Harry?" asked Snape gently, no doubt seeing him tense.

"It was you ..."

"What was me?"

"I remember you .. I ... You ..." Harry paused and gathered his thoughts. "I remember you holding me when I was little."

Snape frowned thoughtfully. He had only ever held Harry twice that he could recall. The day she brought Harry to see him and the night Lily had died.

"You ... argh," said Harry with frustration as he ruffled his hair. It was hard to voice what he wanted to say. "I remember the night they died, very clearly. Dad yelling for mom to take me and run. Mom rushing in and picking me up. She was about to do something ... apparate maybe, when the door blew off the hinges. She then sat me back down in the crib and stood in front of me." Here Harry frowned again. "I don't remember what was said, but he eventually killed her. I then remember that blinding green light coming at me. After that, it's black. The next thing I remember is being safe in someone's arms. I had always assumed it was an out of order dream."

"I can't believe you remember all of that," replied Severus, very softly.

"I didn't ... at first. Then the dementor's came. They caused me to remember more." Harry sighed then looked back down at the photo album.

It was perhaps 10 minutes later when Harry spoke again. "I don't understand. That letter and this photo album suggests that she really loved you and you've told me more than once that you loved her. Why didn't you two get married?"

"It's ... complicated."

"Is it because of that fight you had in your 7th year?"

"What do you know of that?" snapped Snape.

"Not a lot. Just that you called her a mudblood."

"It ... was one of the reasons, but I'd prefer not to talk about it just yet. Did you have any more questions?"

"What is this going to mean for you?"

"I don't understand."

"Are you going to have an even bigger target on your back now because of everyone finding out the truth?"

Snape gave a humorless laugh. "Of all the things to worry about, you're concerned about me? Let me reassure you that I'll be fine."

Harry then squinted at Snape. "I feel like such a prat. You're tired. I should probably go."

"Did you have any more questions?"

"I have a lot of questions but most of the important ones were answered." Harry carefully sat the letter and photo album aside. "You need to rest. I'll go find Remus and see if he'll take me to Gringott's tomorrow."

"Harry."

He paused.

"I _want_ this to work between us. That being said, you may come to see me at anytime. I will set the wards to recognize you. Just put your hand on the door and say 'Amaranth'."

Harry nodded. "I ...er ... hope you feel better, sir." He then fled the room.

It took him a while but he eventually found his way out of the dungeons - thankfully without running into anyone else.

* * *

Severus sighed. Potter had just left his quarters. That had been the most awkward conversation he had ever had.

He thought he had handled it well though.

Evidently the boy had somewhat come to terms with the idea, though it was plain to see that he was still hurting over how he _had_ learned the truth.

Not that Severus could blame him.

He stood and retrieved Lily's letter to re-read it.

"I'm trying, Lily. I just hope I don't screw this up even more than I already have," he whispered into the air.

With another sigh, he returned the items to his room before heading toward his personal lab. He needed a distraction.

* * *

"Harry! I'm surprised to see you. Come in."

Harry entered Remus' quarter's.

"How was your talk with Severus?"

"Was okay. I need more time to come to grips with everything." He shook his head absent mindedly.

"Understandable."

"He said my mom left a letter for me in Gringotts. Can you take me tomorrow to get it?"

"There's a full moon tonight. I won't be able to. I'm sure Albus will though."

Harry frowned but nodded. "Do you have the Wolfs' Bane potion?"

Remus smiled. "I do. How did yours and Severus' talk go?" he asked again.

"He's still in one piece if that's what you're wondering."

"I knew you wouldn't harm him," scolded Remus.

"What would Sirius have thought?"

Remus sighed. "He'd ... well, he probably would have tried to kill Severus. I imagine it would have taken all of us to get him to see reason."

"Would he have still wanted me?"

"I told you before, yes. I imagine Severus and Sirius would have both fought for custody of you."

Harry shrugged. "I don't see why. All I do properly is attract trouble."

"Nonsense, Harry."

"Who would have won," he asked curiously.

Remus put a glass of pumpkin juice in front of Harry. "Severus' claim as father would have won out."

"Would Snape have kept me from Sirius?"

"No," replied Remus without hesitation. "He knew how much you loved Sirius."

Remus noted that Harry never asked if Sirius would have kept him away from Severus.

"I'm just so tired of all the lying. I still feel as if things are being kept from me."

"Most of what has been kept from you has been to protect you. You _are _still only fifteen."

Harry glared at Remus but opted to stay silent.

A couple minutes had passed in silence when the floo nearly startled him as it flared green. His eyes widened as Tonks came tumbling out of the fireplace.

"Oh!" Her hair turned a violent shade of red. "Hello Harry."

Harry looked between Tonks and Remus. "I'll ... uh ... just be going now."

"You don't need to leave because I'm here, Harry," she said kindly.

"I need to find the Headmaster. Bye!" Harry then fled from the room.

"That was awkward," he muttered as he headed to Dumbledore's office.

* * *

A/N: Look! They talked! Ok. So I know that most of the questions that Harry probably should have asked didn't appear in this chapter. Truth is, Harry is still trying to come to grips with the fact that he has an actual father still living that apparently (after this talk, anyway) still wants him. It has to be a shock going to this from the Dursely's cursing his existance.

And, yet again, I am sorry about the delay in posting. I've been going back and forth from WV to VA and about every week and a half. I take my writing with me when I go and I do actually get quite a bit done, but I imagine it's not to anyone's satisfaction. Also, when I'm back to my desktop, I've been absorbed into replaying Dragon Age: Origins (followed by Awakening and then DA2). Oh the story possibilities, but I won't be working on any other story until this one is done, and we still have quite a ways to go. (Not to mention the fact that I keep replaying the origins part of the game and haven't gotten very far lol.)

Anyway, up next: Harry reads the letter his mother left for him.

Oh, and I swiped the password to Snape's quarters from the song Amaranth by Nightwish. (Whom I have been listening to a lot, along with Within Temptation and Flyleaf.) For what it's worth, an Amaranth is a flower grain type thing. It can signify immortaility too, which is kinda ironic. Anyway, I figured with it being a type of flower, Snape would like it because it could also mean Potion Ingredient. hehe

Ok ... going to work on typing the next few chapters now. *shifty*


	105. Love, Mom

Disclaimer: All I own is this taco that I'm eating. o.o

* * *

Chapter 105

* * *

"Are you alright Harry?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yeah. I'm going to go someplace to read this alone. Thanks for taking me to get it."

"If you need me, you'll know where to find me."

Harry nodded and headed to the far side of the lake. Despite the fact that it was cold enough to snow, he never even noticed.

After placing himself on a rock, he slowly opened the letter his mother had written him.

_My dear sweet baby boy,_

_I'm sitting here imagining you as a grown man, yet its hard to do because you're still my baby. You will always be my baby._

_I hope you have had a good life thus far. If you are reading this letter then that means I was killed along side of your father. I am sorry for leaving you._

_I'm sure you're wondering why I would be writing you a letter._

_I have some very important things to tell you, son. I realize this will most likely turn your world upside down, but I cannot, in good conscious, never inform you of this._

_When I was a little girl, I met a boy in the neighborhood. He told me that I was a witch. I was slow to warm up to him, especially since my sister didn't trust him, but we eventually became friends._

_Before I went to Hogwarts, he had helped me harness what magic I could, and thanks to him, I entered the Wizarding World knowing more than most muggleborns. I am thankful that you too will enter the Wizarding World knowing of it. I have seen some of the friends that I've made struggle because they learned on their 11__th__ birthday of their heritage. I am glad that will never happen to you._

_All during school, this boy and I remained friends - and that friendship eventually turned into love, despite us being placed in separate houses._

_In our 7__th__ year, we had a huge fight in which he slipped and called me a nasty name. I had barely tolerated his friends and it appeared they had been rubbing off on him. I was slowly losing him, and it scared me._

_He begged me that night to forgive him but my stubborn nature didn't allow me to do so. That night, I think I felt a part of me die._

_By the end of the year, I had started dating another man, James Potter. I grew to love him, but never the same as my childhood friend. I ended up marrying him, anyway. He is a great man, never doubt that. Sometimes I believe I don't even deserve him._

_Before James and I were married, however, I saw my childhood friend one more time. _

_I am sorry for you having to learn the truth this way. James Potter is not your biological father. His name is Severus Tobias Snape._

_Severus was my long term best friend. He is an honorable man, and one that I am still very much in love with. He is, however, marked as a Death Eater. I hope that when you're reading this, that term is just a foot note in a book._

_Please know that this did not make him a bad person. He told me that he joined against his will._

_Before I was married, I met with him to talk to him. That night, through our love, you were conceived._

_When I gave birth to you, I took one look at you and knew beyond any doubt you belonged to Severus. So I done something that I will have to live with forever._

_I hid the truth from everyone._

_I had prepared a potion and gave it to you seconds after you were born. It only altered your appearance. Any of Severus' features changed into James'._

_I done this for many reasons._

_The first and fore most reason was to protect you._

_I cannot let the Death Eaters or Voldemort discover you. Most children, even the illegitimate ones, are anointed into his service at a young age. While they are not Marked, the ritual is His way of keeping tabs on them._

_I hid it from Severus because this would, without any doubt, cause him to leave Voldemort's side. All this would accomplish is his guaranteed death. I do not want to be responsible for that._

_I hid the truth from James because I knew that it would devastate him. I don't doubt for a second that he would never stop loving you. He loves you very much. You are his life._

_After this war is over, I have every intention on setting James and Severus down and telling them the truth. They would just have to get along. If you are reading this, then I never got the chance._

_I am sorry for leaving you, my sweet child. I know that Sirius will take good care of you. You will grow up loved, and that eases my conscious some._

_Severus will have learned the truth on your 14__th__ birthday (unless he performs a paternity test before then). It is my hope that after he got over the shock of the truth, that you will become a family. If this is so, you are reading this letter before your 17__th__ birthday._

_If it is not the case, then this is your 17__th__ birthday. For you to not be told of this before then, something horrible must have happened to Severus. I encourage you to seek him out if he still lives._

_He is ... a stubborn man, Harry. He may not feel as if he deserves a family, but he does. Be patient with him and give him time. This will be a very big thing for him._

_I love you, very deeply, my baby boy. I can already see that you are going to be a powerful wizard when you grow up. Remember, with power comes great responsibility. Embrace it._

_Live your life, my son. Know that I will always be with you, as will your dad._

_Give Sirius a swift smack to the back of the head for me, too. He will know what it's for._

_I wish you nothing but happiness, Harry. I will rest peacefully knowing that you are happy._

_My one request of you is that you give Severus a chance._

_I love you, Harry. Grow up happy and loved._

_Love,_

_Mom_

Harry looked up and out over the Black Lake. He reached up and rubbed his face, fighting back some strong emotions.

This letter meant a lot to him, but it also served as a reminder of what his life would have been like had Sirius not gone to Azkaban.

Harry sat there until darkness fell and the snow started falling. He probably would have stayed longer had he not looked up to see Ron and Hermione's face, telling him that he needed to come inside.

* * *

A/N: Yep, it's late again. I deserve a humongous flogging, but I have a reason. It's the final week before my mom marries number 3, so I've been a little busy the past few weeks. However, most of it is done. I have to put together a few more flower set's tomorrow, but otherwise, over the next week and a half, I'll have time to work on the story. In fact, the next chapter is almost done. I have another POV problem that I've been correcting, but otherwise, it should be up in a couple of days. :)

Edit in: Oh, and Thanks to PadyandMoony about the major mistake. I looked back over my notes and in my notes I caught the mistake when I proofread, but when I went over the typed version, I didn't see the 'n' in my typed out version b/c I had it written in pencil. Anywho, I updated it. *sends a big ice cream to PadyandMoony* :D


	106. Trying to Understand

Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own them. I do dream about owning Alan Rickman, but alas, 'tis only a dream. :p

* * *

Chapter 106

* * *

"All right, Harry. You've managed to go one week without blowing anything or anyone up. You can go two."

"You know, dear, the first sign of madness is talking to yourself."

Harry made a face at the talking mirror and headed down to the common room.

Eventually Ron, Hermione, and Neville joined him.

"Snape teaching today?" asked Ron quietly.

"Probably," said Harry. He imagined potions was going to be a nightmare.

"You're not getting sick from being out in the cold last night are you?"

"No. I feel fine. Thanks for coming to get me by the way. It's hard to tell how long I'd have been out there."

"Are you going to show him the letter?" asked Neville curiously. (He had been in the common room when they had returned from the lake, so Harry had mentioned the letter to him. None of his friends, however, knew what it said.)

Harry shrugged. He hadn't decided one way or another yet.

When they entered the Great Hall, they saw a peculiar sight.

The Slytherin table was completely empty.

A glance at the Head Table showed that Snape was also missing.

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, who, once again, just shrugged.

* * *

"Quiet down," called out Professor Sinastra.

"Why can't we leave?"

"Your Head of House has something to say."

"I thought you were our Head of House since Snape's dead."

Severus unmelded himself from the shadows. "I assure you, Mr. Goyle, that I am _not_ dead."

A first year girl that had been seated near where Severus had came from screamed. He glanced down at her. "Sorry, Ms. Carr."

He then turned his attention on the rest of the room. "How many of you believed I was dead?"

Severus saw the children of Death Eaters raise their hands, as well as a few others. He noticed that Malfoy's hand didn't raise. _'Interesting,'_ he thought.

"I do apologize for my absence. I assure you that I do not normally take a three-week sabbatical from the school, but it was unavoidable." He conjured a stool and sat down on it. His left leg was still bothering him, but he wouldn't let anyone know that.

"You all may as well get comfortable. I have something important to talk to you about."

"What about breakfast?" asked a second year boy.

"I have to finish my essay. I need to go to the library."

"Silence!" yelled Severus. "Clearly you all have forgotten how to behave in my absence." He was pleased to see a few people cringe at his tone. "Breakfast will arrive in a few minutes. As for your homework, it should have been done the night before." The last he directed to the girl who had spoken up.

Severus then unfastened his left sleeve and raised it to show everyone his inflamed Dark Mark. (Albus had temporarily removed the coil that morning.)

"Now, contrary to what the Ministry says, as I'm sure many of you know, the Dark Lord _has_ returned. The fact that my Dark Mark is darkened in and moving is proof of that.

"Years ago, during the first war, I became a Death Eater. The reason does not matter, but I regretted it immediately.

"Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, Marked me. This Mark takes my power and gives it to him. He can summon me by it. He can also cause pain through it. The reason it is so inflamed is because he has been torturing me."

"Why?" asked one of the first years.

"Because he's a traitor," a 6th year called out.

"Silence!"

Again, everyone cringed at his tone.

"What do you all know of the Dark Lords plans for the Wizarding World?" He didn't want to deal with the traitor comment.

To Severus' surprise, a second year spoke up - one of the few muggleborn children that had been sorted into Slytherin. "He wants to bring blood purity supremacy back."

"Does anyone know what that means?"

"Once our world is rid of tainted blood, we can begin to take over the muggles," said Crabbe.

"And why would we want to take over the muggles?" asked Severus.

"Because we are superior to them."

He raised an eyebrow. "What makes us superior to them, Ms. Parkinson?"

"We have magic and they don't," she said haughtily.

"That makes us different from them, not superior. Tell me, has it ever occurred to any of you that if we didn't occasionally marry muggles, that we would die out?"

"No we wouldn't."

"Mr. Selwyn, there are very few pure-blood families left that are unrelated. The reason there has been an increase in the number of squibs these past few years are because of the marriages that have been occurring with less than three degrees of cousins between them."

"True muggleborns pop up sometimes," said one of the 7th years. "They could pick up the slack."

Severus snorted. He could only imagine what Granger would do to the boy if she had heard that comment.

"But the Dark Lord wants to get rid of the muggleborns, too," commented Gabriella Nott.

"Therein lies the problem," said Severus. "Essentially the Dark Lord would cause our way of life to become extinct. Contrary to popular belief, muggle blood does not dilute magical blood - at least not to the extent that everyone believes."

"But there are witches and wizards that don't have enough magic in their blood to come to Hogwarts."

"There are indeed, but did it never occur to anyone that we are the exception to that rule? Not them? They out number us, just like the muggles do. Every year there are approximately the same amount of students that enter Hogwarts, and I imagine the same holds true for the other big named schools as well. It's nature's own way of making sure that the elite, which is us, do not take over everything. We are schooled here to help protect our world. Our magic is a gift, as well as a great responsibility. Right now you are learning how to use your gift and that makes you very impressionable.

"The Dark Lord is abusing his talents. Yes, he may have the occasional good idea, but those ideas have long turned to madness."

"You don't sound very Slytherin, sir," interrupted Selwyn.

"I assure you that I'm as Slytherin as they come. Right now, my job is to make you understand - to give you the truth so that you can make an informed decision. Just remember this before any of you choose. There are things worth preserving in this world, and it can be done without torture or death.

"Dark times lay ahead for _all_ of us. For many of you, you will be presented with a choice. Before you make that choice, ask yourself these three questions.

"First, what do you want to do with your life? Does whatever you want in life leave room for torture, rape, and murder?"

Severus saw a few of the students turn green at the thought.

"Secondly, do you believe you can preserve the pureblood traditions, and there are many good ones worth preserving, without needing to conquer muggles? I will say that it is possible. There are pureblood families that are not allied with the Dark Lord that carry on many old traditions just fine.

"And third, do you want the Dark Lord to have access to your power? To turn it back on you if you upset him?"

Severus stood up and banished the chair he had been seated on.

"Some of may feel as if you don't have a choice as to whether or not to join the Dark Lord, but you do. You may see me at anytime. My office hours remain the same. Now, are there any immediate questions?"

"Is Potter really your son?"

Severus bit back the retort he had been about to say because he had expected this question. And he was finished hiding.

"Yes, he is my son. That is all I am going to say on the matter. Finish your breakfast and think carefully on everything I have said."

He then strode to his office where Albus would be waiting to reapply the silver warding coil.

* * *

"How did it go, Severus?"

"As well as to be expected."

"I really should call Harry down here to apply this with me. The Latin version isn't going to work as well."

Severus rubbed his temples. "I hate to ask him."

"You know that he won't mind."

"He has double potions right before lunch. Can you come at lunch? What you're doing now should hold me until then."

"I'll be here."

* * *

Harry splashed cold water on his face. It was the break right before potions.

"Come on, Harry," called out Ron from the bathroom doorway.

"I'm coming," he said as he glanced in the mirror before finally turning away.

To his surprise, when he walked in, Snape was already seated at the desk.

He quietly set up his area and took a seat.

To his ever-loving graces, class proceeded normally. Snape lectured for the first hour and for the next, they prepared a neutral base using acidic ingredients.

Snape paid him no more attention that he did Malfoy.

"Mr. Potter, before you go to lunch, I'd like word with you."

"Yes, sir."

"What did you do?" asked Neville.

Harry shrugged. He had been doing that a lot lately.

After everyone had left, Snape waved his wand - causing the door to shut.

"How are you feeling, sir?" asked Harry automatically.

"That is one of the reasons I asked you to stay behind. I had to remove the coil this morning to show the Slytherins my Dark Mark. The Headmaster reapplied it, but I'm afraid it's not doing as well as when you both do it together."

"You showed the Slytherins your Dark Mark?"

"You haven't heard?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My first class this morning was with the Ravenclaws, and well, no one is going to gossip in your class."

Snape smirked.

"Why didn't you call me out of class? I wouldn't have minded. I don't like it when anyone is in pain."

"You do not need to miss any more class, and the pain is tolerable. The Headmaster will be here in a minute, which gives me a chance to speak to you about something important."

Harry searched his mind, trying to recall out what he had done wrong.

"I am aware that you have been hiding your intelligence and I want to know why."

Harry fidgeted. That had been the last thing he ever expected Snape to say. "I don't know what you mean."

"You're a horrible liar," Snape said with a slightly bemused expression.

Harry sighed. "It's second nature to me. I learn the stuff. It shouldn't matter what the tests show."

"Why is it second nature?"

Harry fidgeted again. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Snape stood and walked out from behind the desk. Before he could speak though, Harry saw the slight limp.

"Your leg is still bothering you? Have you told Madam Pomphrey?"

"My leg will be fine in a few days. I assure you that I am taking good care of it."

"I'm sorry I didn't get you out sooner. Maybe if I had caused that distraction earlier, you wouldn't still be hurt."

"Harry, quit worrying about me. I _am_ fine." Snape said as he leaned back against the front of his desk. "Why is it second nature to hide your intelligence?"

"Because I was punished if I did better in school, in anything, than Dudley."

Snapes' hand tightened around his wand. "But your aunt and uncle no longer matter."

Harry shrugged. "It's not like I hide how smart I am in everything."

"I will not tolerate it anymore, in any of your subjects."

His eyes widened. "Why should you care? They aren't _your_ grades."

"I care because you _are_ my son, whether you have come to terms with that yet or not. Your grades can highly affect what you can do when you graduate. I care because it is my job to care. I care because I can."

That little speech left Harry slightly stunned, so it was perhaps a good thing that the Headmaster came in the room when he did.

* * *

Harry glanced at the clock with a frustrated sigh. It was currently three a.m. He had woken from a nightmare about 30 minutes prior.

Even with his occlumency shields up, it didn't seem to help anymore. He figured he would need to tell Dumbledore soon. Maybe with all of the things he had been through lately, he wasn't doing something right.

Quietly, he got up and retrieved his mothers' letter from his trunk.

He re-read it a couple of times.

His mother really wanted him to try with Snape.

Harry ruffled his hair out of reflex.

He desperately wanted a family, a true family, a family that actually wanted him (unlike the Dursley's). He had _always_ wanted a real family. Snape was, technically, his family now.

Malfoy had told him that this was a good thing.

But Harry didn't know how to be a son. Merlin knows he's not had any experience at it.

Besides himself and Dumbledore, Snape was right up there on top of Voldemort's 'to kill' list, so Harry being around him wouldn't bring any additional harm.

Harry realized with a jolt that he wanted _this_, he wanted a real family, a place where he could belong. He wanted to be a family with Snape.

He picked up his photo album and looked at a picture of him and Sirius.

"Forgive me, Sirius. I won't ever forget you, and I promise I _will_ avenge you, but please understand about all of this. I know you hated Snape, but he can understand me. I think that you want me to be happy, and while I'm more confused than anything right now, I think I _could_ eventually be happy."

The picture of Sirius waved at him while grinning at the camera.

And for what Harry resolved would be the last time, he cried.

* * *

A/N: I really, really hope I explained what Snape said to the Slytherin's in a decent manor. (I also hope that there were no random point of view shifting in there anymore either. I reread it multiple times to make sure I got them all.) Anyway, mom's wedding is finished and they are back from their honeymoon, so I'll be going back to VA in a couple of days. The next chapter is almost finished. I'll aim for a week from now. However, if anyone can convince this headache I've had for a week now to go away and stay away, I might be persuaded to post it sooner. :p

Oh, and yes, Lord Moldy-shorts plans go deeper than just conquering muggles, but some of his plans for world domination (and the like) are far too complex to involve the students, so Snape didn't touch on that. He figured he would touch base on what he could get them to understand, not on anything that would likely be over their head.

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July (if you celebrate it). If you don't celebrate it, then I hope everyone had a good regular day then! :D

A/N: Oh, and I think I got all of the previous chapters line breaks issues sorted out. That took a lot longer than I thought it was going too. lol


	107. Hogsmeade

Disclaimer: All the usual ones apply. And I still don't own anything, other than this bottle of sprite I'm drinking. :p

* * *

Chapter 107

* * *

Severus inwardly sighed as he stared down the hallway. He had merely suspected that Harry was avoiding him and had been doing so for the past week. Now he had proof.

The boy had literally stopped dead in the hallway and gone the other direction when he had caught sight of him.

"Give him time, Severus," Albus said as he materialized at his side. "This is a big thing for him."

Nodding, he reached into his robes and handed over a signed Hogsmeade permission form. "He'll need this tomorrow."

Albus gave him a small smile.

"I'm going to Hogsmeade this evening. I have some errands to run."

Now the Headmaster frowned. "Severus, you're safer in the castle."

"I won't hide, Albus. If I do, then the Dark Lord wins."

"I will not take the chance on you being ambushed. Therefore, I will be going with you."

Severus stifled the eye-roll he desperately wanted to do, but nodded. He knew the Headmaster would not allow him to leave otherwise.

* * *

"Ron, how do sons' act?" blurted out Harry, quite suddenly.

Ron looked at him funny. "What?"

Harry glanced around the empty dorm room. It was a Hogsmeade Saturday so that wasn't unusual. Ever since he had come to the conclusion that he wanted to give this family thing a try, he had been avoiding Snape - which was completely backwards.

He saw Ron bend over to tie his shoes.

"How do you be a son?"

Again, Ron looked at him funny. "Harry, there's no real answer to that. It's not something I think about, it's just something that comes natural."

He frowned. "Do you talk to your dad about stuff? Does he help you with your summer homework? Do you help him do things?"

"Harry, mate, slow down. You're going to have a panic attack."

Harry took a deep breath. Ron was right. If he wasn't careful, he _would_ have a panic attack.

"When you went home with Sirius this past summer, did you think about how to act?" Ron asked after a minute had passed.

"Not really, but I tried to be on my best behavior so that he wouldn't send me away," he admitted after he thought about it.

"Harry, you're such a prat. Sirius wouldn't have sent you away, even if you did something to make him angry. I take it this means you're gonna tell Snape you want him as a father?"

Harry made a face. "Yeah, but I'm afraid I'll screw it up."

"So what if you screw it up? I screw up all the time but my dad still loves me. C'mon. A day away from the castle will do you some good."

He quickly grabbed Ron's arm, holding him up for a second. "Ron, are you okay with all of this? I know that you hate Snape ..."

Harry thought Ron looked amused by the question.

"He tormented us for ages, so yeah, I don't like him, but while you were in the hospital wing recovering, Hermione had a 'talk' with me."

"A talk?"

"Yeah." Ron flushed slightly. "I ranted about Snape for well over an hour before she set me straight."

"What did she say?"

"Something along the lines that if I didn't want to lose your friendship, I'd best keep my mouth shut. She then went on to remind me that Snape _has_ saved us ... well, saved _you_, many times over the past years."

"I ..."

"Harry, it's okay. I'm okay with this as long as you're happy. I mean, you have your father ... alive. It's strange ... very strange for me to think of him as your dad, but that's what he is. I told you once before that you are my best friend, and you are. I won't abandon you over something like this, especially since it isn't exactly something you can control."

"Who are you and what have you done with Ron?"

Ron snickered. "Come on. I want a couple of biscuits before we head into Hogsmeade."

When they arrived at the Great Hall, Harry reached in his pocket for the permission from McGonagall had given him the prior evening during detention. (Despite the fact it was revealed that Snape was Harry's father, she still insisted on him having detention for punching Snape.)

"Go on," encouraged Ron quietly as the red head walked toward the Gryffindor table to join Hermione in a spot of breakfast.

Harry took a deep breath, nodded, and headed toward the Head Table, where most of the professor's were currently eating their own breakfasts'.

"Good morning, Harry."

"Morning Professor Dumbledore." He then turned to face Snape. "Morning, sir."

"Morning, Potter. Did you need something?"

He pulled out the blank Hogsmeade form. "I was wondering if you would sign this so I can go to Hogsmeade. I promise I'll try to behave."

Snape snorted. "Gryffindor's don't know how to behave. Thank you for bringing this to me, but I have already signed one."

Harry's eyes widened.

"Was there anything else you needed?"

"I ... uh, have Quidditch practice this evening, but I was wondering if I ... well if I could come down to your quarter's afterwards?"

He saw Snape raise an eyebrow, which made Harry curious as to whether that _was_ his shocked expression. "You may. Do you remember the way?"

"Not really," he admitted.

"I can bring him down after practice, Severus," interjected Remus.

Snape nodded.

As Harry walked away, he heard Snape say, "if you so much as twinkle at me Albus, I'll hex you with incurable boils."

He fought back a laugh as he headed toward his waiting friends.

* * *

"C'mon you two. I wanna head to the bookstore."

Harry and Ron rolled their eyes at her - out of eyesight, of course.

While Hermione browsed the books, Harry went over to the school supplies section. As he went to check out, he realized that Snape had done more than pre-sign his Hogsmeade form.

"It's already paid for, Mr. Potter."

"I don't understand."

"Professor Snape was down here yesterday and told me that if you purchased anything, it was to be charged to him."

"But I want to pay."

"Sorry, but I have my instructions. Next!"

Harry grabbed his bag and went outside to wait on Ron and Hermione.

'_Why would Snape do that?_' he silently fumed.

The wind picked up so Harry pulled his cloak tighter around himself.

Before he could get too lost in his musings, he heard a laugh. A laugh he would recognize anywhere.

Harry looked around and quickly found Gabriella walking hand in hand with a Ravenclaw he knew by sight but not by name.

She looked happy, which made Harry instantly jealous. He scowled at himself. She had told him that she was going to look for a boyfriend and he had told her to do so. He should be happy for her because with her having a boyfriend, she was safe.

Harry looked away from the new couple. When he did, he saw Cho and her group of friends enter the Three Broomsticks.

He looked away from there only to let his eyes fall on Susan entering Honeydukes.

With a frustrated sigh, he glanced around Hogsmeade refusing to look at anyone in particular. As he did, he saw the magical signatures of Tonks nearby, as well as the signatures of a couple other people he didn't know.

'_Either Dumbledore is having me followed or there are invisible Auror's around to keep an eye on Hogsmeade.'_

"Ready to go?" asked Hermione as she and Ron exited the bookstore.

"Let's go to Honeydukes next," Ron said eagerly.

Harry groaned softly but nodded. Once there, he realized that Snape had, once again, stopped him from paying.

"Why is he doing this?" asked Harry.

"To take care of you."

"I don't need anyone to take care of me."

"Oh Harry, providing for their children is what parents do," said Hermione gently.

"But I have the money that I got from my ... vault," Harry said as he paused slightly.

"When you see Snape tonight, ask him about it mate," Ron said as he paid for his sweets.

Harry frowned but nodded.

Eventually they made their way into the Three Broomsticks.

"Uh, maybe we should just head back," Hermione said, suddenly.

Harry looked around and saw Gabriella and the Ravenclaw in the corner. He shrugged. "I've already seen them. Besides, I'm happy that she's happy."

"Are you sure? We can take our butterbeer's with us," Ron said.

"I'm sure." He then headed to a table where they wouldn't be in a direct line of sight of her.

An hour later, the trio plus Neville headed back toward the castle.

* * *

During Quidditch practice that evening, Remus came out to the pitch to watch him.

"Closer to the broom, Potter!" screeched Angelina.

"If I get any closer to it, I'm going to turn into a piece of wood," he called back.

"Nonsense. I want to see that move done properly by the end of practice."

Harry scowled as she flew toward the twins.

Two hours later, Harry limped out of the locker room to where Remus was waiting on him.

"Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

"No. I'll walk it off" he said with a slight grimace.

"At least you can do the move now."

Harry shifted his book bag to his other shoulder. "Let's just hope that each time I do it, I don't crash into a goal post."

Remus snickered. "So are you really going to give Severus a chance?"

Harry nodded as he took a deep breath. "It's what my mom wanted ... and what I want too."

He saw Remus smile down at him.

Ten minutes later found Harry staring at Snape's door. "Thanks Remus. I have no doubt I'd have gotten lost looking for it."

"Good luck."

Harry nodded and, despite Snape telling him the password, he knocked on the door. A minute had passed before it opened.

"Harry? You didn't have to knock."

"I know, but well, I wanted too."

He merely nodded. "Come in."

When Harry walked in, he saw that Snape had some food in the mini-kitchen.

"I figured you might be hungry after practice so I had the elves bring you a snack."

"Thank you."

"How was your Hogsmeade visit?"

Harry took a drink of his pumpkin juice. "Was fine. How come you wouldn't let me pay for my own things?"

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Because it is my job to care for you."

"But I have money," protested Harry.

"From the Potter and Black vaults?"

"Just the Potter one. I've not been to the ones Sirius left me, yet."

Snape fixed himself a sandwich. "James ... clearly wanted you to have access to his vault, even though he knew you weren't his biological son. For a while, I thought about just letting you continue using it but I realized that I _wanted_ to pay for you, to buy you things."

"But I don't want anyone to buy me things. I don't _need_ anyone to buy me things."

Snape took a bite of his sandwich. After he swallowed, he said, "Harry, I realize that you have been forced to grow up. You _are_ more mature than your classmates, but a part of me is saddened by this. I want you to stay a child just a little while longer. I want to do all of the fatherly things that I have been informed fathers' do.

"Save the money James and Bl ... Sirius left you for when you are out of school. After you figure out what you want to do, put it toward an apprenticeship. But while you're here, at Hogwarts, let me pay for what you need."

Harry was surprised by Snape's honest answer. Clearly he had been expecting this discussion.

A few minutes had passed before he finally glanced up. "Okay."

Snape nodded. "How was Quidditch practice?"

Harry chuckled. "Fine, except for slamming into the goal post."

"Did you hurt yourself?"

"No more than I usually do. I ... uh ... have a question."

"Go on."

"On Monday, you said that you've known I was hiding how smart I am in potions. How come you never said anything before?"

"I started to, but I couldn't suddenly begin giving you good grades. I'm sure Draco, or any of the other Slytherin's for that matter, would have informed their parents."

Harry nodded as he reached for his glass of juice again. That's what he thought. He then frowned. "So you knew that Voldemort wasn't dead?"

"I did."

They fell into an uneasy silence when Snape smiled slightly and spoke. "Your mother would be pleased to know that you inherited her knack for charms and potions."

Harry laughed slightly. "I suppose you're happy about the potions part."

"Surprised is more the appropriate term."

"Why are you surprised? Remus told me that mom was brilliant in potions, too."

Severus briefly wondered if Harry realized that he had given him a compliment. "And she was. I go to a potion conference every three years. The top brewers that attend are a married couple. They have three children and all three make Longbottom look like a genius in potions."

"How?"

"That's the way it works sometimes."

"Hmph."

"Did you have any other questions?"

Harry frowned for a minute, then steeled up his Gryffindor courage. "Do ... do you know if it's normal to still have nightmares every night, even with my occlumency shields in place?"

"You're having nightmares again? Are they of the Dark Lord?"

"I am, but no, they're not of Voldemort."

Snape reached across the table and gently made Harry look up at him. "What are they about?"

Harry sighed. "Mostly ... the dead. But sometimes I dream about a pitch black night. Eventually I find a light source coming from a pit. I always know what's inside it and I try to keep from looking down into it, but I can't stop myself."

"What do you see in the pit?"

"Me. I'm lying dead, in several pieces. That's not what bother's me though. It's the fact that my body was tossed on top of the bodies of my friends. All of them had their eyes open and all were staring at me with the accusation that I should have saved them."

"Is that what you're afraid of? That you won't be able to protect your friends?"

He nodded.

"Harry, you can't protect everyone. Any deaths that occur will not be your fault. I know Lupin talked to you about this."

"He did but ... I don't know. It's just a dream right?"

* * *

Severus frowned even deeper, realizing that Harry was trying to change the subject. He had no idea how to fix the notion that Harry wasn't responsible for every death that happens in this war. He could, however, check his occlumency shields. "As for your question, if you allow me, I can check your shields to make sure they are firmly in place."

He saw Harry grimace but nod.

It had taken Severus three times to successfully enter his son's mind, which was an excellent indication that the shields were fine. He then searched, gently, through the boys memories, looking for weaknesses - and he found none. That meant that Harry was subconsciously trying to punish himself.

He pulled from Harry's mind and got up to retrieve a calming draught for him. He had no idea how to deal with this. Maybe this was something Albus or Lupin could help him with.

"Your shields are fine."

"The nightmares are of my own making then, aren't they?"

Severus looked at his son with a raised eyebrow. "They appear to be. You need to sort carefully through your memories and put them behind the correct shield. Do you still meditate?"

"Not as much as I used too," admitted Harry.

"Each night, before you go to bed, I want you to spend at least a half hour meditating. Sort through your memories then."

"Do you still have to meditate to sort through your memories?"

He shook his head. "No, but I'm a Master Occlumens."

"You don't get nightmares?"

Severus picked up their dishes and put them on the counter. He knew the elves would take them away later. "Of course I get nightmares. Sometimes there is truly nothing you can do to prevent them, and I have seen a great deal in my lifetime to cause my nightmares. However, I do believe that most of yours are preventable."

He turned around to see that Harry was lost in thought. Another minute had passed when he spoke up. "When you entered my mind earlier ... it felt different from when Dumbledore does it."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

He shook his head.

"I'll give you a dreamless sleep draught tonight. I'll also inform the Headmaster that it will need to be another couple of weeks before he should test you again."

"Can't ... nevermind."

"What is it?"

"Can't you test me?"

"I can, but what I did just now, that was me trying to be gentle. If I test you, I'll be much harsher."

"I know. Sometimes I think Dumbledore goes too easy on me. I need to know what Voldemort would truly try if he caught me."

"If you wish, I can do so, but it will still be another couple of weeks before I test them again. That being said, I have paper's to grade. I saw that you brought your book bag. Homework?"

Harry nodded.

"Unless you have any more questions, you may use the table in the living room to study."

Harry nodded. "Thank you, sir."

* * *

While Harry set up to write an essay for defense, Snape sat in his chair to mark paper's.

At one point, Harry glanced up and watched Snape smirk nastily as he graded someone's essay.

He chuckled softly, while seriously hoping that wasn't one of _his_ essay's. His mind inadvertently drifted back to when Snape had checked his shields. He had felt an unexpected wave of ... something from the man. It almost felt like ... warmth ... or caring ... or something like that. He found it difficult to describe.

A _very_ surprising thought then entered his mind.

He almost dropped his quill at the revelation.

It was a thought unbidden, yet not scary in the least, despite the morbid conversation earlier.

It was the thought that he could, somehow, admist his crazy life, get _used_ to being normal in his potion master's ... no, he corrected himself, in his _father's_ quarter's.

Here, apparently, he didn't have to be anyone but himself, and that, more than anything, was an encouraging thought.

* * *

A/N: Look! They talked s'more! *grin* As you might guess, right now their both trying to stay civil to each other to keep from pushing the other's buttons as they figure out this whole father/son thing. Don't worry. That won't last long. Sooner or later, one of them is gonna snap. hehe

And yes, Harry (and Snape too for that matter) is a bit slow in realizing what he felt from Snape when the man had entered his mind. I actually had a pretty good time writing this chapter.

Up next, Harry and Dumbledore has a chat, plus there's an oppertunity for another bonding moment between Snape and Harry. =)


	108. Little Secrets and Bonding

Disclaimer: All the usual things. :p

* * *

Chapter 108

* * *

Harry glanced at the clock. "For the love of Merlin's knickers," he muttered when it said 3:10 a.m.. He pulled his pillow over his head and groaned softly. _'Why can't I sleep in like a normal teenager?'_ he wondered for the thousandth time.

Sighing out of frustration, he got up and took a shower. After gathering the days books he would need, he scrawled out a note for Ron telling him that he would be in the Great Hall eating breakfast when he woke.

He then headed toward the Founder's Library.

Technically, he should be studying for his Herbology test, but he didn't feel like it. So long as he passed, he figured he'd be fine.

Thankfully, he was allowed entrance this time and sat down to resume reading the _Skin Magic_ book that he had began before Sirius died. However, before he started reading, he set his wand to warm against his arm at six.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry I broke the wards and you had to redo them. I was in a panic crisis. I couldn't let him die."

He then became engrossed in the book.

Invisible, three of the Founder ghosts smiled at each other. The other simply rolled his eyes.

Around 5:30 a.m., Harry heard a noise. He looked up from his book and glanced around the room.

Another noise made him jump.

Despite the fact that he knew nothing could harm him, he drew his wand and backed into a corner for what he hoped was a defensible position.

"How extraordinary."

Harry gasped. "Headmaster?"

"Harry?"

He came out of the corner. "How did you get in here?"

"There's a door, which appeared out of nowhere, in my office. Is this the Founder's Library?"

Harry nodded.

"How did _you_ get in here? Because I'm quite certain you didn't enter through my office."

He sat back down in his chair. "Originally through the Chamber of Secret's but lately through the Room of Requirement."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at him then turned to go look at the books.

"Sir, unless they've found a way to reverse it, all the books in here are spelled to only be touched by a parselmouth."

"I thought only -"

"He is. It was Slytherin's own sneaky way of adding extra precautions to the books."

"Sneaky?" The Headmaster's lips twitched slightly.

"Yeah. They didn't realize he had done it until I mentioned it."

"They?"

Harry frowned. "The Founder's Ghosts. You've already seen Slytherin. The other three are ghosts too."

The Headmaster stroked his beard. "I had always wondered ... especially after you returned with Severus ... but to have confirmation - why, that's simply amazing."

He smiled and watched as the Headmaster sat down next to him.

"What are you reading?"

"It's a book on Skin Magic. This is one of the books that Voldemort had access to." He pointed to the stack of other books on the table. "These are the rest."

"He had access to this room?"

"No. Some of these books were in the Chamber of Secrets. After Voldemort left the school, the ghosts pooled what magic they had and had them transferred into here. I figured I'd see what I was up against."

"This is where you got those books on Occlumency, isn't it?"

Harry nodded and watched as the Headmaster picked up a random book. The second it made contact with his hand, it flew across the room.

"Heh, sorry Professor. Even if the room wasn't spelled for parselmouth's, I doubt you'd be able to read these. All of Slytherin's books are written in parselscript."

"How extraordinary," he said again.

Harry laughed as he got up to retrieve the book from the floor.

"How often do you come in here?"

"This is the first time since Sirius died," he said quietly. "I've tried a few times since then, but this room is warded very heavily. If I was too angry or upset, I couldn't get past the door."

"And you found this room when?"

"During my 4th year. I don't sleep much and I kept having dreams about the Chamber of Secrets." Harry shrugged. "So I went back down there. The dead basilisk is still preserved, by the way. It looks like it just died. Anyway, there were two doors down there. One went to an empty room and the other led to here."

"Have you found anything interesting in your reading?"

"Some of these books make my skin crawl. There is a book on the table on something called an_ anima_. It reeks of so much Dark Magic that I can barely stand to touch it. That means that I should eventually read it, as Voldemort no doubt did."

The Headmaster's eyes widened as he eyed the books on the table. "You want to be careful with all of this knowledge, Harry. It is a great gift being allowed access to this room. I imagine there are books on magics' that have long since been forgotten in here. You do not want to abuse what you learn."

Harry smiled. "I know, sir." He then glanced at his arm. "It's six. I need to get to breakfast."

"How are you and your father getting along?"

Harry froze. "Uh, fine sir. I've been spending a couple hours after Quidditch practice in his rooms with him."

"I'm pleased to hear that. Whenever you are ready, Remus and I will transfer full custody over to him."

Harry's eyes widened. "But ... wouldn't that mean ... I'd have to live with him ... Like during the summer?"

The Headmaster put a hand on Harry's shoulders. "Harry, Remus and I would gladly still be your legal guardians until you are an adult, but Severus _is_ your father. I know that it takes more than just a name to be a father but I know that he _wants_ to be there for you. He _wants_ to do everything a father does.

"You told me a while back that your aunt and uncle never treated you like you belong."

Harry nodded.

"Now, you and Severus can belong to each other. I can promise you that it won't be easy, on either of your parts, but it _will_ be worth it."

"Why won't it be easy?"

"Because he is used to being alone, you are used to doing things on your own, and neither of you are used to trusting anyone else."

"Oh," Harry replied quietly.

"I won't pressure you, but whenever you are ready, we can transfer legal guardianship over to Professor Snape."

Harry nodded and as he picked up his book bag, the Headmaster spoke again.

"And as your current guardian, I feel the need to add that if you don't pass your Herbology test today, I'm going to withhold your Quidditch privileges for a week."

His eyes widened in shock. "Yes, sir." He then left the Founder's Library and headed toward the Great Hall for breakfast.

Thankfully, thanks to some last minute studying with Susan, he managed to pass his Herbology test.

The fact that he had knocked off his notes and scattered them everywhere before they started, had been entirely irrelevant.

* * *

"Er ... sir. Can I ask you a question?"

"Certainly."

"Today's homework assignment that was written on the board was wrong. Was that on purpose?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever known me to do anything meaninglessly?"

Harry frowned. "No, sir."

Severus watched as the boy started flipping through the past weeks worth of notes. He had to say that he was impressed. This upcoming lesson had to do with how books can be misleading, and unless someone had actually paid attention the past couple of years, it would be brewed incorrectly.

Finally Severus' curiosity won out. He wanted to know just how smart his son truly was in potions.

"Harry, do you know anything about the Wolfsbane potion?"

The boy looked up. "Yeah. I looked it up during my 4th year when I realized that was what you had been brewing for Remus."

"This weekend I'm making a batch. Would you like to join me?" This potion was difficult and it would give him a good indication of the boys' skills.

"Sure!" Harry agreed, wide-eyed.

Severus nodded and returned to the essay's he was grading. He found that he liked spending time with his son, even when they were working on different things.

It was surprising and very satisfying.

* * *

"What are his rooms like?" blurted out Ron as the fifth years got ready for bed.

Harry snickered. He had been expecting this question for a week now. "They're not all black and green, if that's what you're wondering."

"Are there a lot of books?" asked Neville.

"Yeah, but I've not read any of them."

"I'm surprised, Potter. I figured he would be teaching you how to be a Death Eater," spat Seamus.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Snape is not a Death Eater - at least not anymore." These accusations were coming nightly. Hermione kept encouraging him to just ignore everyone.

"He's actually got a chess set down there," Harry said as he sat down on his bed. "I watched him and Dumbledore play part of a game the other night while I was doing my homework. It was fairly evenly matched. Snape told me their games normally take two or three days to play."

Ron looked awed.

"Hey Neville, can you quiz me before our Charms test tomorrow?"

Neville laughed at him. "Harry, you have the highest grade in there of all of us, other than Hermione. I doubt you're going to fail."

"I just want to be sure. Snape's been on me extra hard about passing _everything_."

Neville grimaced. "I would, but I have to meet Justin and Ernie before class. Ask Hermione."

It was Harry's turn to grimace. The last time he had asked her a question, he had gotten a twenty minute response - and he still wasn't sure his original question had been answered.

Plus, Hermione was in full O.W.L. study mode. If he and Ron were not studying according to her schedule, they were going to fail.

When he had pointed out that it was only February, he got glared into silence.

* * *

Severus placed a blanket over Harry. He had done an excellent job in preparing and starting the potion. In fact, he felt quite a bit of pride in the boys' abilities.

He had corrected only a couple of minor things, skills that were fine in class but needed more attention to detail in this potion.

After making sure Harry was resting on the couch, he went to a side room and summoned an elf.

"Harry Potter's father needs something?"

Severus narrowed his eyes. This same elf had been answering his summons and cleaning his quarters ever since he had returned from the hospital wing.

"I need you to take a note and place it on Potters' bed in his dorm room so that when his friends wake, they do not worry unduly."

"Dobby is being happy too!"

Severus turned to scrawl out a note and handed it to the elf. "I'd like for you to return after you have done so. I'm curious as to how you have bonded to my son."

Dobby twisted his ears as a response and popped out of the room.

A minute later the elf returned.

"Explain," demanded Severus.

"Harry Potter freed Dobby from bad master."

"Who was your previous master and how did he free you?"

Dobby twisted his ears again. "Lucius Malfoy was being my master and Harry Potter tricked him into giving Dobby a sock."

Severus frowned. "And does Harry know that bound you to him?"

"No, sirs. I be going and seeing the world and when Harry Potter was fourteen, I be coming back to Hogwarts to be near him. I is figuring I tell him eventually."

Severus rubbed his temples slightly. "How can he not know this? And how were you able to go and see the world without his permission?"

"I be thinking that he is not taught about elves."

"And the other question?"

"Er ... well, you see, sir. Harry Potter made Dobby promise not to save his life again and then he be telling me to leave before he headed up to the hospital wing. I was thinking that I always wanted to see the world, so I was going and seeing the world."

Severus raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "You are not bound to him like a normal servant?"

To his surprise, Dobby looked pleased by that. "No sir. It is because I be liking Harry Potter and he be liking me too."

"I've never heard of a bond that depended on that."

"I be thinking you needs to learn about elves, too."

He sighed. "You need to tell Harry. He does _not_ like surprises."

Dobby started wringing his hands together. "I is thinking his friend, Miss Hermy, might get upset at him."

"And why would that matter?"

"Because she's on a campaign to free all elves from slavery," said a voice from the door.

"Harry Potter, sir!" squeaked Dobby.

Severus turned and looked in the doorway and saw Harry frowning down at the elf. He _really_ was getting too good at stealthing.

"Why are you awake? Is everything all right?"

"I had to go to the loo." He then focused on Dobby. "Am I really your master?"

"You is. I being sorry I not telling you. When you is graduating, I is hoping to follow you when you get your own house."

"But I thought you wanted to be free?"

Severus watched as Dobby snapped his fingers and a book appeared in the elves tiny hands.

"If elves being not bound to a master for a year, we is losing our magic."

Harry took the book from Dobby and glanced through it. "Hermione has no idea. Dobby, I've given you clothes as presents. How did I not accidentally free you?"

"Because our bond is being different than a normal one."

Severus watched as Harry plopped down on the floor as he looked through the book. He then had a question. "I was told that when we both went missing, you were summoned by Mr. Weasley to open his trunk. Minerva said you volunteered to look for him. Elves are able to go straight to their master - why didn't you?"

"Dobby be trying the entire time he being gone, but the place is being warded against elves. If Harry Potter sir was calling Dobby, I is thinking I could have went to him, but I is unsure."

"What about Winky?" asked Harry suddenly. "Does she recognize Hogwarts as her master?"

Severus watched as the elves ears drooped. "No. She is being sicker every day."

"I don't need another elf bound to me. You are going to be hard enough to explain to Hermione without her flipping out."

"After you and Professor Snape be reading that book, I be thinking you should let Miss Hermy read it too."

Harry's eyes widened. "Ron!"

Severus groaned. "Mr. Weasley does not need a house elf bound to him," he said, guessing his sons' thoughts.

"Not him, Mrs. Weasley! But ... er ... well, she may not take her."

"I'll have the Headmaster ask her in the morning. It's still four hours before the next stage of the potion. Get some more sleep."

Severus watched as Harry stood up. "Dobby, are you sure about being bound to me? I don't want you to be unhappy and I want you to be sure this is what you want."

He watched the elf grin a very toothy grin. "I is sure."

"If you're ever unhappy, for any reason, you're to tell me. If you want to work someplace else, you're to tell me then too. I won't be mad, so you don't have to worry about that."

Severus was slightly bemused when Dobby launched himself at Harry. The elf then popped out of the room.

"I suppose a part of me has always known that he was bound to me. I did choose him to be the elf to have access to my trunk after all. I'll read this in the morning. It ... uh ... is okay for me to stay here right?"

"It is. Dobby took a note and placed it on your bed for your friends so they won't worry when they wake."

Harry nodded and headed back toward the couch.

Severus picked up the book the elf had left behind and started browsing through it. On nights that he brewed the Wolfsbane potion, he did not normally sleep.

An hour later, he put the book back down and shook his head. He hadn't known about half of the stuff it contained. He then snorted. '_When Harry finds out how deep the bond that the elf used goes, he is going to explode something.'_

Severus walked to the doorway and leaned against the door frame and watched his son sleep. He felt a warm feeling spread through his body and let a rare smile take over his face.

For one of the few times in his life, he was content. He just wondered how long it would last.

* * *

A/N: anima = soul, btw ;)

As for the word anima, I had another latin word in there (which I thought sounded way cooler :p), but when I went to double check it's meaning, I saw that it didn't mean what I thought it meant. I don't have my original dictionary with me at the moment either. So, for now, I had to use the online latin translator.

Lookie see! They had another bonding moment! :D I like their bonding moments, but like I said, eventually one or the other is gonna start pushing buttons and well, I'm sure everyone knows how family can get at times. *whistles innocently*

As for the Headmaster not being able to touch the books, he can touch the other books in there, just not the ones that had been written by Slytherin. He just hadn't tried yet. A later chapter will reveal that. (The ghosts had indeed managed to remove the spell that the ghost of Slytherin had cast.)

I hope everyone also liked the Dobby scene. And as for how Severus didn't know Dobby was bonded to Malfoy previously (he did have to go to Malfoy Manor a lot as a Death Eater), Malfoy doesn't like it when the servants are seen, thus, he had never laid eyes on the elves employed there before.

And I must say, I've really enjoyed the reviews that have been coming in and for those sticking this story out with me. It really does mean a lot. Also, I wanna thank the first time reviewers as well. There is cake and pie in the corner for everyone, so help yourselves! :D hehe

Up next, Hermione and Harry have a bit of a spat plus Harry finally realizes why he knocks everything down when he's around Susan Bones. We'll get to see if he does anything about it too. Oh, and unless I move it to a later chapter, Harry brings his friends down to Snape's quarters for the first time to study. *cackles gleefully* (I had fun writing that scene. we get to see Snapes 'fun' side in it. bwahahahaha)

I'm hoping that I'll get the next one up within the week. My printer died so I've caught up to myself in typing my chapters, so I have quite a few to type now. As for what my printer has to do with that, I print out my chapters and edit them that way (after I write them long hand). It makes it easier for me to spot mistakes (sometimes :P).


	109. Small Discoveries

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or much else for that matter. ;)

* * *

Chapter 109

* * *

"I don't understand," huffed Hermione.

That statement alone had Harry and Ron looking at her incredulously.

"Uh, what don't you understand?" asked Harry carefully.

"This assignment for Professor Snape. He said my potion was wrong, but I can't figure out what I did incorrectly. I followed the directions word for word."

Harry and Ron looked at each other, clearly, neither of them wanting to answer her.

His and Malfoy's potions had turned out near perfect, which made him all the more wary to answer her. Ron had been on the right track but he had missed an important step, which had caused it to become chunky.

Finally, Harry took up the challenge of breaking this to her as gently as he could. "Hermione, the book is wrong."

Just as he expected, she looked at him like he had grown a second head.

"Books aren't wrong."

"They can be sometimes. Misprints happen, methods go out of style, ingredients become harder to get ..."

"Then why use those books?" she demanded.

"So that we can learn," answered Ron - which clearly surprised her. "I've had both Bill and Charlie tell me that whatever O.W.L. potion we brew, the recipe is wrong and that in order to pass with an Outstanding, we have to figure out the correct version and brew it. The N.E.W.T.'s are like that too, but the potion is supposedly a lot more complicated."

"But how can anyone do that?"

"Harry did it just fine and so did Malfoy."

He sent a traitorous glare toward Ron.

"But I'm sure Harry has been receiving tutoring from Professor Snape."

His eyes, no doubt, showed how hurt he was. He quickly gathered his stuff and stood up. "I'll have you know that he hasn't help me with the first thing for class." He then stormed out of the common room.

"Way to go, Hermione. What a way to piss him off."

"But he has to be getting help. His grades and skills have improved these past couple of weeks."

"Hermione, he's been hiding how smart he is. How could you not know that?"

"Why would he do something like that? It seems a fairly stupid thing to do."

"That's something you should ask him," replied the red head with a scowl.

* * *

Harry put his head in his hands. Yes, he had allowed everyone to believe that he was a dunderhead in some things, but not everything. Hermione had already accosted him once about hiding how smart he was when she had seen him apply the glamour to his hand.

He had pushed off her suspicions by saying that he had really studied hard to learn how to cast a glamour.

Maybe he should have come clean then.

"Harry?"

Harry startled slightly and looked up to see Susan staring at him. "Huh?"

"What did your book do to you?"

"What?"

"You're glaring at your potions book awfully hard and I wondered what it did to you?"

"Oh. Nothing. I just had a fight with Hermione so I came to the library to study for a bit."

"Can I join you?"

"Sure." He moved his books to his side of the table so Susan could sit across from him.

"Have you started studying for our O.W.L. exams yet?"

He grimaced. "I've been trying but it's hard to review the old stuff while we're still learning the new stuff."

"March is when the teacher's start reviewing with us, at least according to my aunt."

Harry nodded. The twins had told him the same thing.

They studied together until curfew. When he went to stand, he knocked all of his books to the floor, which earned a glare from Madam Pince. "Bloody hell," he muttered under his breath.

"See you tomorrow," she said with a smile.

"See you," he grumbled as he finished picking up all of his things. He just hoped that by the time he got to the common room, his face would no longer resemble the color of a quaffle.

* * *

A couple days later, Harry entered the dorm after Quidditch practice to find Hermione looking at him funny.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked quietly.

"Sure. Let me shower first. Flitwick and Hooch were trying to fix the boys locker room showers so I couldn't use those."

Hermione nodded and resumed reading her book.

A half hour later found them up in the boys dorm.

"What did you need?" he asked as he plundered in his desk for a piece of candy.

"I want to know why you were hiding your intelligence."

"The truth?" he asked as he pulled out a box of Bertie's Every Flavor Beans.

"Of course."

"Growing up, if I brought home better grades than Dudley, in anything, I was punished. After a while I got the message. That still didn't stop me from learning the material though." He shrugged slightly as he pulled out an orange colored bean - which actually tasted like an orange.

Hermione looked scandalized. "That was wrong of them to punish you for doing better than your cousin."

"I know that _now_, but I didn't know that then."

"What about when you entered Hogwarts?"

"I had met you. You used to get so angry if I answered something correctly first. So again, I learned the stuff, but hid some of what I knew."

"Why?"

"Because you became tolerable to be around before we were friends and after, I was afraid to lose your friendship."

"I wouldn't have stopped being friends with you over that."

He made a horrible face. The yellow bean he had just taken a bite of tasted like a flower. He then put the box down. "Hermione, you've not said a word to me for the past two days." Despite the fact that it had been softly spoken, the pain in his voice was clear.

She flushed. "That had more to do with me, than you."

Now Harry was confused.

"I ... don't take too kindly to being informed that I'm wrong about something. To actually hear it, hurt. So I've been trying to study and watch you at the same time. Did you know that Ron and Neville both figured out that you were smarter than you let on?"

He snickered. "Neville confronted me last year. Evidently I helped him in charms with something but when Flitwick called on me, I said I didn't know the answer. I didn't know Ron knew though."

"Why are you showing your intelligence now?"

Harry grimaced. "Because Snape threatened me. He's known for a while. Before he _couldn't_ give me good grades. Now though, he's grading me fairly - well somewhat fairly."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think he's grading me a little harsher than everyone else but that's because he's been trying to ferret out how smart I actually am."

Hermione smiled. "I'm sorry I didn't believe in your intelligence. My parents always encouraged me to learn and hiding my knowledge is something foreign to me. Even though you explained it, I'm still having a little trouble wrapping my mind around it."

"You're still smarter than me, Hermione. I actually am a big dunderhead in most of my subjects."

"So, will you help me with this potions work? Because I'm having issues with something that is probably simple."

He smiled. 'Sure. You can come in now, Ron. We're done maiming each other."

"Uh ... how did you know I was there?" asked a blob of red hair as the door opened.

"Magic," grinned Harry.

"That and we saw your shadow under the door," chimed in Hermione.

Ron huffed.

* * *

Severus was in a fairly good mood when he entered the Great Hall for dinner on Friday. As he did during every meal, he scanned the Slytherin table to make sure everyone in his House was present.

He then scanned the Gryffindor table to look for Harry.

He frowned when he didn't see him. He had told Harry to be at every meal, whether he was hungry or not.

Twenty minutes had passed before the boy rushed in, grabbed a plate of dessert, and rushed off.

Severus growled. That was not enough food to count as dinner.

After he ate, he headed off to supervise a detention. One of the 2nd year Gryffindor's thought it'd be cute to feed a hair growth potion to one of his Slytherins' cats. The boy wouldn't _ever_ make that mistake again.

To Severus' surprise, when he entered his quarter's later that evening, Harry was sitting in the floor surrounded by notes and his transfiguration books. It was the first time his son had entered while Severus had not been present. It pleased him that he felt comfortable enough to do so.

"Harry?"

"Oh! Uh, hi."

"What are you doing here?"

Harry frowned. "Studying. I can go if you -"

"No. This is your home as well. I was just startled to see you."

Harry nodded and returned to his work. "Oh! Dobby told me that Winky works for the Weasley's now," he exclaimed after a minute had passed.

Severus entered from the kitchen. "Indeed?"

"Yep. Dobby popped in the library and told me earlier. Right in front of Ron and Hermione."

"And how did they take that news?"

"Not very well. Ron thought it meant he'd never taste his mom's cooking again but Dobby said Mr. and Mrs. Weasley agreed to bind to her as long as Mrs. Weasley could still cook. Evidently Winky was hard-pressed to agree with that, but eventually caved.

"Hermione, on the other hand, lost it. Dobby eventually stunned her, woke her up, and make her listen as he explained about house elves. I then handed her the book to read that he had leant me."

"That is why you only grabbed dessert for dinner?"

Harry laughed. "That was for Ron. Dobby fed us so while he answered Hermione's questions, I ran down to get dessert. I knew that if you didn't see me at dinner, I'd be in trouble."

"And how is Ms. Granger handling the news, now?"

"Oh, she's still on about better treatment of elves, which I agree with her on that, but she's no longer trying to free the Hogwarts elves. Dobby explained to her that they are treated perfect here. He also explained that he knew he was an oddball in wanting money and clothes, that most elves really did not want such thing."

Severus smirked, then headed to his potions lab to check on some healing potions he had been brewing. When he left the lab twenty minutes later, he saw his son glaring at a book. _'Maybe it's time to share what I done for him.'_

"Harry, can I show you something?"

"Sure." The boy got up from his mess of papers and followed him down the hall.

"I realized that I've told you I wanted this to be your home. In order to make that happen, you needed a room of your own." He then pushed open the door of his old storage room (that had been cleaned and expanded to thrice it's previous size) to reveal a bedroom.

The expression he saw on his sons face was one he swore he would never forget.

"My ... my room?"

"Yes, your room. Your elf helped decorate it. That door leads to your own bathroom," he said as he pointed to a door in the back of the room.

"Professor ... you didn't have to do this," Harry said as he took in the room's surroundings.

There was a bed, desk, bookshelves, and a few other things that he would need.

"I wanted to. I couldn't allow you to continue sleeping on the couch during those times you did stay down here."

"Th - Thank you."

An hour later, he watched as Harry picked up his stuff to head back to the dorms. "Harry, tomorrow, would you mind re-applying the silver coil around my Mark?"

"Is it hurting?" the boy asked, concern filling his eyes.

"It is, but it's not so bad that it can't wait."

"If you floo the Headmaster, I can do it now."

"That's not necessary. I'm not in so much pain that it cannot wait until morning."

"If we don't do it now, I'll just head straight up to his office. No doubt, we'll both be back down here within a few minutes."

Severus eyed the young man in front of him. With a sigh and a grimace, he got up and placed a floo call to the Headmaster. He couldn't believe he was being out-maneuvered by a fifteen year old.

* * *

Harry idly stared at Susan as she ate her breakfast. It had finally dawned on him why he was clumsy in her presence. He found her to be very pretty.

"Ow!" He glared at Hermione, who had just elbowed him in the ribs. "What was that for?"

"Just ask her out, already."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're staring at Susan as if she's a piece of meat."

"I am not," he denied, clearly in shock.

"Harry, you're drooling."

'_Oh dear Merlin,_' he thought as he self consciously wiped his mouth. "Hey! I am not," he whispered with a frown.

"But you had to check, didn't you," she said with a smug expression. "Seriously, just ask her out. Hogsmeade is this weekend. Ask her to join you."

"Hermione, I can't do that."

"And why not?"

He grimaced. "She's safer if I stay away from her. Everyone is," he added, pointedly.

"Honestly. Are you going to spend the rest of your life living as a monk? If so, I'm sure I can find you some information about Wizarding Monasteries."

"Of course not. Only until Voldemort is gone."

"Ron is right. You _are_ a prat. Seriously Harry, I'm sure that anyone you ask out would know what they were getting themselves into. Don't you believe _they_ have a say on the matter? You're really doing Susan a disservice by not giving her enough credit."

He watched as Hermione gathered her books and headed off to class.

"What was that about?" asked Ron as he looked up from his plate of food. Evidently he had missed the entire conversation.

"Don't ask," muttered Harry, mulling over what she had said.

* * *

"How on Earth did you find this place?" asked Ron. "I'm gonna get lost as we leave here."

Harry laughed. "If Remus hadn't shown me, I'd probably _still_ be running around looking for the right hallway." He then placed his hand below the painting and muttered, "Amaranth". A person could have the password but it still wouldn't open unless they also matched a certain magical signature. (After Pettigrew had managed to get into his rooms, Snape had strengthened the wards.)

The door opened and Harry and his three friends entered Snape's quarters.

"Wow. It's nice down here," Hermione commented as she looked at the room. Naturally, her eyes gravitated to the large library and Harry chuckled under his breath as he saw her have to physically restrain herself from going over to see what the bookshelves contained.

"Are you sure it's okay for us to be down here?" asked Neville, who for some reason, was whispering.

"Yes. I got permission last night. C'mon. Let's go to my room," he said eagerly.

"You have your own room?" asked Neville.

Before he could respond, Hermione piped in. "Of course he has his own room. Professor Snape isn't going to make him sleep on the floor when he stays down here."

Harry just shook his head, slightly amused. "There's not a lot in it right now, but it's all mine. And, it's less noisy than the common room."

Within the next twenty minutes, they had all started studying for their History of Magic exam that was to be the next day.

"Why, in the name of Merlin, do I need to know _when_ Igbold the Inventor died? I mean, I can understand why I have to know what he did, but what does when he died have to do with anything?"

Just as Hermione opened her mouth, to no doubt tell him _why_ he had to know when Igbold died, a knock sounded at the bedroom door.

"Come in."

Snape was on the other side. "Hmm ... It's nice to see you haven't blown up the castle yet."

Harry grinned. "Give us time, sir. I'm sure we could."

"That's what I'm afraid of. Have your elf fix you all a snack in about two hours time. I'll be in my lab if you need me."

"Alright."

"Oh, and keep Longbottom and Weasley out of my supply room. Fresh human blood is so hard to find and keep." Snape quirked a smile big enough to show vampire fangs before closing the door.

Before Harry could burst out laughing, he heard Neville begin to hyperventilate.

"Breathe Neville. He was just kidding. He's not a vampire."

"But the fangs," said Ron numbly. "I mean ... it was just a rumor ... but the fangs!"

Hermione suddenly huffed. "You two are hopeless. Snape's been out in the sunlight plenty of times. He _can't_ be a vampire."

"The blood. He said he had a supply room of blood," wheezed Neville.

At that point, Harry did burst out laughing. It took him a minute to regain his composure. "It's a spell, you two. Seriously, he's not a vampire. He was just teasing."

"I've never seen or heard of Snape joking. Ever," pointed out Ron after he had quit having his own mild panic attack.

"From my understanding," said Harry with an amused grin, "he does it all the time. Do you remember the other day when McGonagall skipped every other step?"

All three of them nodded. It had caused rampant speculation in the tower as to why she was behaving so peculiar.

"Snape gave her jinxed catnip while she was in her cat form."

All three looked at Harry in shock, then burst out laughing - including Hermione.

"So ... he doesn't have human blood in his supply closet?" asked Neville, after they had all calmed down.

Harry snickered. "Not that I've seen. C'mon. Let's finish studying for this test then we can call Dobby for a snack."

* * *

Harry looked around nervously. He was waiting on Susan to leave Herbology. "Go on, Ron. I'll catch up."

"Why?" asked the red head, suspiciously.

"I'll explain later," he said, dismissing his friend from his sight.

Ron walked away with Hermione, who was currently sporting a smug expression.

A few seconds later, Susan exited Herbology talking to Hannah.

"Susan? Can I ... uh ... borrow you for a second?"

"Sure."

Great. What was he supposed to do now that he had her alone. "Well ... uh ..."

"Let's walk to Defense," she suggested. "We don't want to be late."

"Oh. Yeah. Okay."

They were a hallway away from the classroom when Susan spoke up again. "Was there something you needed, Harry?"

He jumped slightly before taking a deep breath. "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow? Together?"

"Are you asking me on a date?"

He didn't think she sounded disgusted by the idea, so he peeked up at her. "Yeah. Uh ... unless you don't want too. We could just go as friends, or not go at all. I mean ..." _'Argh! Why is this so hard?'_ he wondered.

She laughed. "Calm down, Harry. Yes."

"Yes, what?" He was sure he had a perplexed look on his face.

She giggled. "Yes, I'd like to go to Hogsmeade with you, on a date."

"You would?"

She nodded and stepped into the Defense classroom.

He stood there stunned for a moment before grinning like an idiot and walking in the room to take his seat.

Thankfully, the bell sounded, which cut off Ron's inquires - temporarily.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it's late ... again. I have issues editing on a computer. My eyes glance over things that I would normally catch if I had it printed out and edited that way. Unfortunately, my printer is still not working, so if there are a few mistakes, I apologize.

Sadly, I hit a brick wall of writer's block. I have a ... very interesting scene in the next chapter, so I've been pouring over it. However, it wouldn't go where I needed it to go, so I stepped away from it for a few days. During that time, I corrected a few minor things from the beginning of the story. (I put an updated notice at the bottom of the chapter for those I've gotten to so far.)

And when I picked my writing back up, words just flowed. I've basically re-written that chapter and the one after that. So, it'll be at least a week and a half before I get it posted. Plus, my family and I are going to Dollywood on vacation for 4 days next weekend. So it'll be after that when I post it.

What's in the next chapter? Let's just say that when I type it up, I believe the Hogsmeade visit will be almost 5000 words, if not longer. It's 18 hand written pages. lol

Also wanna thank everyone for the reviews! For the new reviewers, cake and ice cream is in the corner!

*sigh* I had something else I wanted to mention but I don't remember it now. Blah!


	110. A Memorable Hogsmeade Visit

Disclaimer: All the usual ones apply!

* * *

Chapter 110

* * *

Harry grabbed his cloak and glanced in the mirror one more time. He desperately wished his hair didn't stick up everywhere.

"I can't believe you asked her on a date," huffed Ron.

Harry turned around to look at him. "I thought you liked Susan."

"She's an okay girl, but still, what do you need with another girlfriend? It took you ages to get over the last one."

Harry rolled his eyes. "She's not my girlfriend. Look. I need to get down to the entrance hall. I'll meet up with you and Hermione in the 3 Broomsticks around noon."

"Yeah, yeah," grumped Ron.

Shaking his head, he headed toward the Great Hall. He knew that Ron was really okay with this. The redhead had just wished he'd been told _before_ he had asked Susan out.

* * *

When Harry arrived at the entrance hall, he didn't see Susan yet, so he plopped down on a nearby bench.

"'ey 'arry!"

"Hagrid! What are you up to?"

"Goin' tuh see Dumbledore."

"Anything wrong?"

"Nah. Gotta thin' needing 'is advice on."

Harry chuckled. _'Merlin only knows what Hagrids done now.'_ "Good luck."

He watched as Hagrid headed off toward the Headmaster's office. He then spotted Susan coming up the stairs that led down to the Hufflepuff common room.

"Morning Harry."

"Morning. Did ... uh ... you wanna eat? Or head on down to Hogsmeade?"

"I'm fine. Unless you're hungry?"

"Too nervous to eat," he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Susan laughed. "It's just me, Harry. The same me that you've always known. C'mon. Maybe you can walk off some of that nervousness as we head into the village."

Harry groaned in mortification but nodded. After being signed out by Filch, they began their descent into the valley.

* * *

Severus had just finished his breakfast when he realized he never saw Harry come in to eat. As he stood, Albus reminded him of that blasted staff meeting he'd been hoping to avoid.

With a reluctant nod, he circled the Head table and made his way to the Gryffindor table where Longbottom and Granger were waiting on Weasley to finish inhaling his food.

Longbottom saw him first, which caused the boy to let out an undignified squeak.

"Where's Potter?"

"He went on into Hogsmeade, sir," Granger had replied after it appeared that neither of the boys were going to.

"Without you three?"

The girl nodded again. "He didn't want us tagging along. We're meeting up with them around noon."

"Them?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Harry's on a date," blurted out Longbottom.

Severus felt something warring inside of him. _'Why didn't Harry tell me?'_ he wondered.

"Sir, he just asked Susan yesterday. It probably didn't occur to him to tell you," Granger commented.

Stifling anger at her presumption, he simply nodded and stormed off.

So, Harry had actually asked Susan Bones out on a date. _'Merlin, I hope he doesn't do something inappropriate,'_ he thought as he headed to his office. He needed to pick up some papers to grade so he'd have something to do during the staff meeting.

* * *

Harry and Susan were laughing as they exited Zonko's Joke Shop.

"You should really consider getting that book, Harry."

"Absolutely not. Hermione would murder me." They had seen a book that was designed to keep track of homework assignments but two hours later the book would swap what was written down to another date. It was called a 'Homework Mis-Manager'.

"Good point. Especially with our O.W.L.'s this year. Maybe get it for her next year."

Harry snorted. Hermione would still kill him. "I am going to enjoy using these pranks on Ron and since he isn't with me, he won't know their coming."

Susan laughed. "Bookstore next. I need a few more packets of parchment and a new quill."

He nodded.

As they crossed the street, their hands inadvertently found each other. Neither commented on it as they clasped together, although they did share a small smile. After they purchased what they needed in the book store, they headed toward Honeydukes.

As they were crossing the street, Harry felt a wave of nausea hit him. It caused him to immediately stop walking.

"Harry, what is it?" asked Susan as she glanced back at him.

He tilted his head to the side, as if listening, and extended his senses to the nearby area. It suddenly hit him as if a ton of bricks had landed in his gut.

"Take cover!" he yelled as he pulled Susan toward a barricade in front of Zonko's.

Apparition sounds broke through the air less than two seconds later.

Along with several screams.

Harry watched in horror as all of the invisible Auror's were trussed up in a matter of seconds. They were then dragged into the middle of town. (No longer invisible.)

"Harry, I know you're here."

"Susan, I need you to go inside," he whispered. He then crawled toward a set of barrels before he could hear her reply.

"Attacking harmless kids, Tom?" He shouted as he moved behind another barricade.

"These Auror's aren't harmless. _Avada Kedavra!_"

Harry watched in shock as Voldemort killed one of them. He then realized that Tonks was among them. If anything happened to her, Remus would be devastated.

He didn't have a choice. He'd have to show himself. Just as he started to step out of his hiding spot, he felt himself being pulled back.

"_Avada Kedavra!"_ Voldemort intoned lazily at the next Auror in line.

"No, Harry." It was Hermione. He hadn't realized her and Ron had crawled toward him. If it had been a Death Eater, he'd have been killed.

"I have too," he said.

"No. You'll get yourself _and_ them killed, which will accomplish nothing," she whispered.

He then had an idea. One that he could actually thank Moody for, assuming he lived through this. "Be right back!"

To his friends horror, he apparated away from them.

"I'll kill them all, Harry," threatened Voldemort. "Show yourself and I'll spare the rest."

Harry grimaced. He had apparated straight into Pansy Parkinson and Malfoy. A quick stunner took care of Parkinson, who had been about to shout his whereabouts, but Malfoy raised both hands in supplication and backed away.

"_You'll_ spare them, but what about the rest of _them_?" He then ducked around the corner, narrowly dodging the ten or so curses that flew past his head.

Voldemort chuckled. "Who am I to deny them a bit of fun? _Avada Kedavra!_"

Harry watched with horror as the next Auror fell lifeless to the ground. There was nothing for it. He needed to show himself to stop the killing. He briefly wondered if he should simply walk out to the fountain or apparate. He knew he could get into trouble for apparating without a license, but walking out to the middle of the street seemed like an immediate death sentence.

With a sigh, he focused on the location near the fountain in the center of town. He would have liked to have held onto his apparition secret a little longer, but since his friends, plus a few of the Slytherins had seen that he could do it, there wasn't any use to hide it now.

"Here I am, Tom," he said as he appeared in the center of town.

"So nice of you to finally join me. _Avada Kedavra!_"

Harry watched in disbelief as the next Auror keeled over. There was only two left.

"You said you'd spare them!"

"I lied," he hissed. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

That killing curse was shot directly at him. He immediately fell to the ground in an effort to avoid it. As he rolled away from another, he pointed his wand at the dirt underneath the mass of Death Eaters and said, "_Humus Tempestas."_

Thankfully it was a dry day, otherwise that spell wouldn't have worked. He then took his opportunity and apparated away.

It, naturally, only took Voldemort about three seconds to cancel the dust storm, but when he did, he saw that his last two hostages were missing and one of his Death Eaters had been stunned.

"Harry, we can't let you go back out there," Tonks said as she pulled the last of the ropes off of herself.

"I'll be fine," he assured the Auror's with what he hoped was sincerity. "Just get everyone else out of here."

A scream caused everyone's attention to be directed back toward the center of the village.

"Now, Harry. We have some of your classmates. Come out here and die like a good little boy."

He frowned. The hostages were two Ravenclaws and a Slytherin. He doubted the Death Eater's realized they had grabbed a Slytherin student. Either that, or they simply didn't care. With a grimace, and much to the Auror's gasps of disbelief that he would willingly go back out there, he apparated back to the center of town. "Sorry, Tom, I don't feel like dying today."

"Circle us," commanded Voldemort.

"Are we going to do this properly then?" Harry dodged an incoming spell. His scar was searing with pain, which made it hard for him to concentrate.

Instead of an answer, he had the killing curse shot at him, again.

"_Expelliarmus_," he shouted back.

Just as they had done before, the two wands connected. Voldemort broke the connection and apparated to a spot behind Harry so that the combined spells wouldn't hit him.

Harry barely managed to dodge a curse that was shot at him the second Voldemort reappeared.

"Now, Harry. Stand still and _die_."

"_Profusum Unda,_" he shouted while pointing his wand at what little bit of water was in the fountain and again at Voldemort. "You want a fair fight, Tom? Then bring it! Just you and me!"

"Seeing as how you're alone, I don't see where you get to dictate the terms."

A scuffling noise sounded behind Harry but he didn't dare take his eyes off of the self-proclaimed Dark Lord.

"He's not alone," called out a voice that he had definitely not been expecting.

"Longbottom, is it?" crooned Bellatrix. (She was currently the only Death Eater without a mask. Harry figured that it was her way of proudly admitting where her loyalties lay.) "How's mom and dad?"

"Better, now that they're about to be avenged."

'_Great. Now I have to figure out how to make Tom go away __and__ protect my friends,'_ he thought as he pulled Neville back behind him.

And for what was the hundredth time, he wondered where in the bloody hell Dumbledore was.

* * *

Albus had just been about to conclude the staff meeting when the Head Boy suddenly burst into the staff room.

"Harry and You-Know-Who are fighting in Hogsmeade!"

He felt his stomach hit the floor. As he, and all the teachers, poured out of the room to head into the village (nearly trampling the Head Boy in the process), he saw Severus nearly two feet in front of him, running. It took him a minute to catch up to him.

"Severus, you need to stay here in the castle and look after your Slytherins."

"Absolutely not. I'll not abandon my son. Sinastra is staying behind to watch them for me."

He merely sighed but nodded. Despite the fact that he wanted to protect him, he should have known that the man would want to protect Harry.

There was only one word that described the scene in front of him as they arrived in Hogsmeade ten minutes later.

Chaos.

There were battles taking place everywhere. Multiple students were fighting Death Eaters, a closer look showed that they were all Harry's closest friends.

He saw students down. Death Eater's were also down. He could also see two Auror's fighting. There were supposed to be six. He briefly wondered where the other four were.

And there, in the middle of it all, were Harry and Tom. They were throwing spell after spell at each other. To his surprise, a lot of it was elemental magic and not all was being cast by Tom. He knew that Harry knew a few spells, but clearly the boy had either learned more, or he had underestimated just how much he _did_ know.

Albus then heard someone shout, "there's Dumbledore!"

* * *

Harry was exhausted. He had been forced to put all of his power behind each spell that was being cast. Also, his scar was bleeding directly into his eye. He didn't know what was more distracting: the pain or the blood.

The only good thing about this duel is that it showed him he could, if only barely, stand toe to toe with Voldemort.

"You can't win, Tom."

The resulting answer came in the form of another killing curse.

* * *

Severus was beside himself with worry. He and Albus both had to fight their way through the crowd.

"_Infragilis Funis_," he shot at Malfoy Sr. The blonde hair gave him away, despite the mask.

He was then torn between two choices. Longbottom was beginning to weaken under the onslaught of Bellatrix's attack.

And his son - who was still fighting the Dark Lord.

In the end, he chose to help Longbottom because he saw Albus finally arrive at Harry's side.

* * *

"Hello, Tom."

"Dumbledore," hissed Voldemort - his red, snake like eyes, narrowed in anger that he had put in an appearance.

"I think it's time for you to leave. Most of your followers are either stunned or have been captured."

Voldemort leaned over and pushed his wand against the Mark of an unconscious Death Eater. Those that had been stunned and bound immediately vanished.

"I will not lose my followers because some hyper active _children_ got in lucky shots."

Albus sighed and merely dodged a spell that had been shot at him.

* * *

Harry was stuck with his back up against what was left of the fountain. From his vantage point he could see Susan and Luna lying unmoving in front of a shop. Several of his other friends were fighting Death Eaters. It was at that moment he realized that Snape was helping Neville.

He felt a wave of gratitude wash over him that the man was looking out for his friends.

Movement caught the corner of his eye. A Death Eater was sneaking up on Dumbledore while he dueled with Voldemort.

"_Incarcerous,_" yelled Harry.

He watched as the Death Eater fell, struggling with the ropes that had wrapped around him. It must be a new recruit because he didn't recognize the magical signature.

As Harry went to stand, he realized that he couldn't. He eyed the huge chunk of wood in his leg and idly wondered when that had happened.

"_Stupefy_," he shouted at another random Death Eater. A glance over his shoulder showed that the duel was intensifying. Harry realized that earlier when he thought he could contend with Voldemort, he had been delusional. There is no way he could duel like they were now.

"_Pondero Contego_," he called out. He had conjured a reflective shield between Dumbledore's back and the spell that had been shot at him. He watched as the spell rebounded back to the Death Eater. The man had then erupted in flames.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Remus join Tonks in a battle with four Death Eaters. She had been holding her own quite well by herself. He was _very_ impressed.

A spell suddenly shot within three inches of him. He needed to get out of the open, but before he could apparate to one of the back alleyways, he became chilled to the bone.

Only one thing had _ever_ made him feel that way.

Dementors.

He rolled out of the path of another stray spell as he looked around the village. He could see his fellow classmates crowded in the store windows, watching the battle. He also saw that a dozen or so students were stuck hiding behind some of the barricades and even a bench - the latter of which was hardly any cover.

The chill gripped his soul tighter. He knew that they were near even though he couldn't see them.

"_Incarcerous,_" he suddenly shouted at one of the Death Eaters that had been battling Remus and Tonks. Where he had been hunkered down at, he hadn't had a clear line of sight until that moment.

"_Protego Maxima," _he said as he directed a shield to protect Snape. A stray curse had almost hit him.

He then focused on the Dementors. A full minute had passed before he saw the first one. And, naturally, it headed straight toward the group of students that were behind the bench.

Harry picked a memory, let the emotions fill him up, stood up fully (despite the chunk of wood in his leg), and yelled, "_Expecto Patronum!"_

His patronus charged at the Dementor and flung it away. Another moved in to take its place, but Harry guided his stag patronus back to that one as well. He then told it to make a warding circle around the village.

* * *

Severus was still dueling with Longbottom against Bellatrix. Flitwick had joined in with them a minute prior. The witch was strong, very strong. And despite the fact that Azkaban had clearly left her unhinged, it had only added to her power.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Harry was pinned down against the fountain. He wondered why he hadn't apparated out of danger when he saw that he was staying put simply to protect the Headmaster.

He was going to end up strangling the boy for those idiotic Gryffindor tendencies of wanting to save everyone.

As they dueled, Severus noted that Longbottom sometimes had trouble casting a few spells, despite them being below the 5th year level. He wondered if it had something to do with the fact that they hadn't exactly had the most reliable teachers over the years.

He then felt the Dementor's coming. It would appear that the Dark Lord had offered something that made them leave the prison.

Just as he heard Harry cast his patronus, he blocked a spell sent by Bella that would have caused Longbottom to boil from the inside out. It was a nonverbal spell, one that she had made up, but very few spells carried the sickeningly yellow light that one did.

'_Sectumsempra'_, he silently cast at her.

To his horror, she deflected it - straight into the back of Harry.

* * *

Harry had been about to guide his patronus to make the warding ring when he felt a spell slam into his back. The force of the spell caused him to not only lose concentration so that his patronus winked out, but it also caused him to fly through the air.

He landed about five feet from where the other Auror was battling two Death Eaters.

It was then he felt the blood pour down his back. He had, evidently, been hit by a cutting curse.

"Ow," he groaned. However, before he could get lost in the pain, he knew he had to get his patronus back up before the Dementor's returned.

He went to move his wand hand but found that it didn't work right. With a frustrated and pained sigh, he switched his wand to his left hand. "_Expecto Patronum!"_

Harry looked at the shield that formed. The problem, however, was that it was just a shield and not corporeal anymore. '_That's not a good thing,'_ he thought. He let it wink out on purpose. He _had_ to get 'Prongs' back.

With a fair amount of struggling, he managed to pull himself up to his knees. (When he had been thrown by the cutting curse, the chunk of wood in his leg had become dislodged, thus he was bleeding heavily from there as well.) He surveyed the village while trying to keep himself from passing out - which was becoming very hard to do.

Despite the fact that he could see the curses flying and see the lips moving on certain people, for whatever reason, he couldn't hear anyone.

He shook his head, as if trying to clear the cobwebs. All this fighting should _not_ be completely silent.

It was at that moment he saw that the Dementors were returning.

And the noise returned as well, assaulting his senses' head on.

He forced everything - pain, blood, screams - _everything_ to the back of his mind, gathered what power he felt he had left and yelled, _"Expecto Patronum!"_

And at that, his stag patronus finally leapt from his wand. He quickly had it making full warding circles around the village - which pushed the Dementor's back.

After it had made three complete circles, he felt another curse slam into him. It hurt but at least he hadn't been thrown. He could feel a burning sensation go through his side. He imagined if he looked, he would have seen burning welts on his skin.

Harry glanced over his shoulder at Dumbledore and Voldemort. Their dueling was an impressive show of power. He then checked on Snape. He had just knocked Bellatrix's husband, who had joined his wife in the duel, unconscious. To his surprise, Neville was still fighting with Bellatrix, but thankfully, Flitwick was now fighting along side of him and Snape.

Tonks and Remus were dueling a total of six people between them. Evidently more had taken the place of their fallen comrades. McGonagall and the other Auror were each fighting two.

And while he couldn't see them, he heard more fighting going on in a couple of the back alley's.

Another spell slammed into him and even though he had seen this one coming, he had been unable to dodge it. This spell, however, Harry recognized as he was thrown. The _Reducto_ had completely broken his right arm. As he lay on the ground, looking up at the sky - once again fighting to stay conscious, he wondered if his slowed reflexes had anything to do with the amount of blood he was currently losing.

After a minute had passed, he managed to pull himself back up into a kneeling position. He had to get out of the open because if he didn't bleed to death, he'd be killed by a stray curse.

With a final glance around to make sure the Dementor's were gone and that no one was sneaking up on Dumbledore, he managed to apparate to a back alley.

Right into the waiting arms of a Death Eater.

And not just _any_ Death Eater.

Oh no, he apparated straight into the arms of Gabriella's father.

* * *

Albus had breathed a semi-sigh of relief when Harry had apparated away. The boy had protected his rear, even though he would have been fine.

At the moment though, he was worried about him because of the sheer amount of blood loss that he was currently losing.

He had panicked slightly when he felt the Dementors because he was so preoccupied. He knew he'd not be able to control a patronus and duel Tom at the same time.

When he had saw Harry's stag, he had been grateful that someone with enough power had cast it because that meant they could be driven back.

Unfortunately, he had lost sight of the boy then because the young man had been tossed several feet beyond his vision.

Just as he conjured a shield that would cause the flying concrete that Tom had sent his way to be turned into dust, he heard a terrible thing.

"I have Potter, my Lord."

To his horror, a Death Eater came out of a nearby alley holding Harry at wand point.

He quickly sent a spell at Tom, which he evaded. Tom had then stuck his hand out, as if waiting for something. A second later, Harry's wand landed in it.

That meant the boy was defenseless.

He hoped that one of the other order members, whom had apparated into the village about twenty minutes prior, would come upon them and help Harry.

He then wondered where Severus was, but before he could finish that thought, something was thrown in front of him - making five Death Eaters appear out of nowhere.

Five _fresh_ Death Eaters.

* * *

Harry figured he was screwed. Nott Sr. had just tossed his wand to Voldemort. He was literally defenseless. Plus, he felt himself rapidly losing consciousness from all of the blood loss. He was quite sure his leg had stopped bleeding but he was painfully aware that his back had not.

He imagined it was a testament to his own willpower that he had remained upright all this time.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Kingsley kick a fallen Death Eater out of the way as he went to help a group of students that had been cornered. He then realized that he _wasn't_ defenseless.

He quickly made himself fall limp in Nott Sr.'s arms, which wasn't hard to do given how weak he felt, but nevertheless, he managed to surprise the man. Once he hit the ground, he rolled over and kicked him, as hard as he could, squarely between the legs.

Nott Sr. fell to the ground and (thankfully) dropped his wand - both in surprise and in pain.

Rolling over again, he grabbed the fallen wand with his left hand and just as he shouted, _"Expelliarmus!"_ toward Voldemort, the snake like man had snapped Harry's wand into two pieces.

And to make matter's worse, Nott's wand had splintered - no doubt from the force of the spell.

So he, once again, had no wand.

A scream nearby suddenly distracted Voldemort and everyone else.

Snape, Flitwick, and Neville had _finally_ managed to disarm Bellatrix.

He watched as Voldemort apparated to her side, grabbed her, and apparated to another part of the village. He then put his wand to her Dark Mark. "Apparate! Now!" he bellowed.

All of the Death Eater's vanished, including the ones that had been keeping Dumbledore occupied. However, the newly unconscious and bound ones remained.

"No!" Harry screamed. Before he realized what he was doing, he found himself running straight at Tom - and tackled him to the ground before the man could vanish as well. (Where he found the strength to do so, he had no idea.)

He felt Voldemort's hand around his neck before he could do anything else.

"_You idiotic boy. You are no match for me,"_ he hissed in parseltongue.

Voldemort then vanished into thin air.

And all Harry knew was pain.

* * *

Severus watched with horror, along with everyone else, as Harry literally hurled himself at the Dark Lord. What the foolish boy was going to do once he had him pinned down was anyone's guess. However, the Dark Lord vanished about three seconds after Harry had tackled him.

To his alarm, after the Dark Lord vanished, Harry began convulsing. He immediately began to run to him but Albus grabbed his arm.

"No. That's not Harry."

A laugh that did not belong to Harry suddenly came out of his mouth.

"Of course I'm Harry."

He stopped mid-step with instant understanding.

The Dark Lord was possessing his son.

* * *

Harry was fighting for control of his own body. He had _never_ felt such excruciating pain before, and unfortunately, he could still feel his back oozing blood.

"Fight against it, Harry," Dumbledore called out.

'_Look around, Harry,'_ Voldemort's voice said in his mind. _'Look at all the death's that have occurred because of you.'_ He felt his head jerk around to see all of his fallen classmates.

Susan and Luna were still not moving. Hermione and Ron looked to be stunned. Neville was bleeding from a gash in his arm and on his forehead, but he was kneeling over Ginny - who was also not moving.

He was then made to look at the four dead Auror's that were still laying in the middle of the street. _'They're dead simply because you waited to show yourself.'_

"Harry, push him out," whispered Dumbledore again.

"Kill me," he managed to croak. "Kill me and he'll go, too."

"That's right, Dumbledore. Kill him and I'll go with him," Voldemort said using Harry's mouth.

"Harry, occlude your mind, then shove," came a strangled cry that he vaguely recognized as belonging to Snape.

"Ah, my little betrayer," came the voice out of his mouth again. "Tell me, Severus, have you told your son _everything_?"

Harry was almost willing to let Tom have his body if it meant the pain would stop - until that had been asked. "Get out!" He desperately tried to occlude his mind, but couldn't.

'_Ah, I see,'_ Voldemort said into his mind. A series of images then flashed in front of his face.

Snape had been the one to tell Voldemort that a prophecy existed and what he knew of it, which is what caused him to be hunted to begin with.

Betrayal shot through his body.

'_That's right, Harry. He betrayed you.'_

Another series of images went through his mind.

'_He's not afraid of killing either. That woman could just as easily have been your mother.'_

"Get out!" seethed Harry.

His head jerked around involuntarily again, this time to show a couple of unmoving teachers.

'_Dead because you didn't have the sense to just lay down and die. If you had done so, my Death Eater's and I would have simply left and all this could have been avoided.'_

"No!" he screamed.

"Kill me," spoke Voldemort's voice out of Harry's mouth, again.

Harry then looked around (of his own semi-control) and saw into Snapes' eyes. From that, he found the strength to put up his occlumency shields, but they were weak - because he was weak.

Voldemort, no doubt sensing just how weak he was, whispered into his mind again. _'We're a lot alike Harry. Similar childhoods, betrayal by people you thought cared for you. We even share many of the same skills and abilities.'_

Another series of images flitted through his mind, these ones showing him exactly how weak and alone he truly was.

"We're alike," muttered Harry out loud, over and over again. More images assaulted his senses. He slowly felt himself falling - and he knew that within the next couple of minutes, he would be dead.

"Harry," said Dumbledore softly - so softly he almost didn't hear him, "it isn't how you are alike. It's how you are not."

"It won't work, Dumbledore," hissed a voice. The sound seemed far away, yet he knew that it was his own mouth that said it.

"Fight him, Harry. Occlude then shove," called out Snape again.

By this time, from his peripheral vision, he could see people starting to come out of the shops. Order members were trying to keep them away from where he was, but he could feel everyone's eyes on him.

It was then he realized that everyone _wasn't_ dead.

These were innocent people that could still be harmed.

These were innocent people that could still be saved.

He vaguely realized Snape was still telling him to occlude and shove.

A memory suddenly came to the forefront of his mind. It was the joy and happiness he felt when Snape had given him a room in his quarters because it had meant he wanted Harry to be around. It had meant that Snape did want to be a family.

"NO!" shouted the voice of Voldemort.

And with that thought, he was finally able to occlude his mind. And this time, the shields were _not_ weak.

"_You're_ the weak one and you'll never know love or friendship. And I feel sorry for you," he managed to croak out loud.

He then gathered whatever small amount of power and energy he had left and shoved.

A second later, he realized he was, more or less, pain free. He had idly wondered if he had finally died of blood loss, but considering Voldemort was standing over him at the moment - he doubted it.

* * *

Severus had watched with agonizing horror as Harry tried to fight off the possession.

He heard several bones break as the Dark Lord contorted his sons body into abnormal positions.

He desperately wanted to take the boy into his arms, but knew that if contact was made with a possessed body, the spirit could kill that body and move onto the next.

A glance at Albus showed that the man had tears running down his face. This was just as agonizing for him to watch as well.

He had a feeling that only half of what the Headmaster and himself had been saying was getting through. It was when Harry had started saying that he and Voldemort were alike that he also felt panic shoot through his body.

Harry and the Dark Lord were _nothing_ alike. The boy _had_ to be made to see this.

He also knew that he had to somehow stop the bleeding, quickly, or he was simply going to die of blood loss. How Harry had managed to stay conscious was beyond his understanding. The blood was still pooling underneath him - rapidly.

"Occlude and shove," he repeated.

"NO!"

That was definitely _not_ Harry's voice that came through Harry's mouth. It was the Dark Lord's and whatever Harry had just done, it sounded like it caused him a great deal of pain.

"_You're_ the weak one and you'll never know love or friendship. And I feel sorry for you," Harry had managed to gasp out.

With a slight frown, he watched as a bubble or a shield of some sort had appeared around the corporeal Voldemort and Harry a few seconds later.

"You may have won this battle, Harry Potter, but I will win this war. _Avada Kedavra!_"

He saw the Dark Lord apparate away before seeing if the killing curse had even hit its intended target.

Severus then realized with dismay that _he_ was the intended target.

And it was too late to move away.

* * *

A/N: I was originally going to post this tomorrow, but decided what the hey! So now it's posted tonight! *chuckles* Besides, I figured everyone could do with a good dose of a cliffhanger. ;)

I loved the part of the OotP movie where Harry had to fight off the possession, so I stole ... er ... borrowed what the movie said in this case. I couldn't help it. That scene just called to me!

I also hope the battle was a bit of a surprise, at least a little one. I know everyone was concerned about Susan and Harry dating, and well, you do have to admit, this was one heck of a first date. hehe I actually had several people concerned about Susan and Harry dating. Evidently that didn't sit well with some people. I was actually surprised by that. I actually like my Susan. As for those wondering who Harry will eventually end up with; I have a fairly good idea, but it's definitely not set in stone yet. With the way my muses go, it could end up being 50 different people - though, uh, not all at once. o.O

Anyway, the next chapter obviously deals with the aftermath of the battle, plus we'll get to see who all died. I have every intention on bringing hex and curse proof clothing the day that I post that chapter! I imagine some people won't be happy with it. Then again, all you wonderful reviewers and lurkers always surprise me. :) Not sure when it'll be up. I still have to type it. I had planned on typing all of my written stuff while I was on vacation, but instead I came down with an evil case of shingles (adult chicken pox - very very painful). The library's not open long tomorrow, but I'll try to go and start typing everything up. I'd expect about a week before it's posted.

I mean, what good is a cliffhanger if I turn around post the next chapter? ;) *takes Death Eater robes and mask and flees to a safe location*


	111. Aftermath and Revelations

Disclaimer: All the usual's again. *sneaks in and leaves this and flees for my life*

* * *

Chapter 111

* * *

Remus eyed his sleeping godson. It had been nearly two days since the battle in Hogsmeade and the young man had yet to awaken.

Poppy had declared all of his bones healed and the burn on his side was almost gone as well. He would, however, have a scar on his back from the cutting curse that had hit him. He imagined that when he did wake, he'd also be sore from the combined blood loss and the magical exhaustion.

He reached over and gently brushed the fringe out of Harry's eyes. When the boy awoke, he was going to be devastated by the losses that occurred. The death toll was low, which was miraculous, but he seriously doubted Harry would see it that way.

A noise at the hospital wing doors made him look up. His friends had been sneaking down to see him ever since they had been released.

After leaning back in his chair, he pretended to be asleep as Ron and Hermione entered the hospital wing.

"He still looks so pale," Hermione whispered.

"Why hasn't he woken up yet?"

"Madam Pomphrey explained it to us yesterday. Now be quiet before Professor Lupin wakes up and kicks us out."

Ron made a face at Hermione, but nodded.

* * *

Harry groaned softly. His body felt like it had been running a marathon. He ached in places he hadn't even been aware existed.

"Harry?" asked Ron's voice, which was softly spoken.

He slowly opened his eyes, raising his hands to wipe the grit out of them, only to find that hurt too. He hissed in displeasure at the discovery.

"Oww..."

"Shh. I'm not supposed to be down here."

"_We're_ not supposed to be down here," chimed in Hermione.

That was when he realized he was the hospital wing - again.

"Why am I in the ...?" He trailed off. He had finally taken in the sight of his best friends. They were covered in bruises and Hermione's arm was in a sling.

It all came back to him then. The battle with Voldemort in Hogsmeade had evidently _not_ been a nightmare as he had hoped.

"What do you remember?" asked Hermione gently.

Harry glanced around the room as he tried to remember what all had happened. To his confusion, Snape wasn't in the chair next to his bed asleep. Remus was.

So where was Snape?

"How is everyone? How is Susan?"

"Susan is all right."

Harry felt his heartbeat quicken. She hadn't answered his first question.

"Tell me," he demanded, his voice slightly louder than he meant it to be.

A noise came from Remus as he slept.

"We have to go, Harry. We'll be back later this morning," said Ron, quickly.

To his frustration, his two best friends practically ran out of the infirmary.

He could feel the panic settling into his body. Did someone die? Was that the reason Snape wasn't at his bedside? Had Voldemort, or someone else for that matter, killed him?

His vison started to dim as his breathing became more ragged.

The last thing he heard was he muffled voice of Remus as the man took him into his arms.

* * *

Harry felt arms surrounding him as he laid in the hospital bed. He had just woken up again. He figured it was Remus comforting him from the panic attack he had earlier.

He then remembered _why_ he'd had the panic attack. Before he could control it, his breathing increased again.

It hurt something fierce to know that Snape was dead. He'd rather be possessed by Voldemort again than live with that knowledge. It seemed to be his fate to never have a family.

"Shh ... Harry, calm down. I've got you."

He pushed his head harder into Remus' chest.

Except.

That wasn't Remus' voice.

His eyes opened as he pulled back to see who was holding him.

He nearly melted in relief to see Snape's dark eyes looking back into his.

"I thought you were dead," he muttered as he buried himself back into Snape's chest. He didn't care how old he was or what the others might think if they saw him, he felt safe there.

"I nearly was, but you saved me, again. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke earlier. Lupin said Weasley and Granger upset you."

"Where were you?" he demanded.

"I was in my lab, brewing potions. I had asked Lupin to sit with you while I done so. I knew that we did not have enough healing potions in stock."

Harry pulled back and went to rub his eyes. Again, he hissed in pain. "What happened? Who's dead?"

Snape sighed. "Madam Hooch was killed plus four of the Auror's."

"No ..."

"They were the only deaths, though many were seriously injured. We had to send the Weasley twins to St. Mungos, but I've been informed they are going to be fine. They should be returning to school on Wednesday."

"How did Madam Hooch die?" he asked, hoping his grief wasn't written all over his face.

"She died defending a group of seventh years and a shopkeeper."

Harry heard the disgust in Snape's voice. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just tired."

"Are you angry she was defending someone?"

"No. I'm angry because they were old enough to cast spells of their own, yet you and your friends were the only students that fought."

"Most people panic when they see Death Eaters," Harry said softly, recalling the World Cup incident, "but I imagine actually seeing Voldemort made them simply freeze."

"And you're not 'most people'?"

Harry saw some kind of unexplainable glint in the man's eyes. "Not according to ... well ... everyone." He allowed himself a sad smile then recalled something else Snape had said. "You said I saved you? How?"

"Do you remember being possessed?"

He nodded. He doubted he would _ever_ forget that.

"When the Dark Lord left your body, he shot the killing curse at me. You were practically unconscious yet your body let loose some kind of magic that literally knocked me off my feet. The curse missed me by two inches."

Harry searched his memory, looking for the event. He frowned as he focused harder. He remembered the possession, remembered Dumbledore telling him that it wasn't how he and Tom were alike but how they were not, and remembered Snape telling him to occlude and shove. Another minute had passed before he finally remembered pushing Voldemort out of his body.

"Harry?" Snape said, softly.

He held up a finger. It was like the memory was on the tip of his tongue.

"Harry, what are you thinking of?"

"I'm trying to remember, but the last thing I remember is pushing him out of my body."

"You need to rest some more. You drained your magical core severely, plus you lost _a lot_ of blood. If you cannot remember when you wake, then I will get Albus' pensieve and show you my memory of the event."

"Will you stay?" he asked with a slight hesitation in his voice.

He saw Snape nod. "I won't leave you, again."

With that promise, he settled down and drifted back into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Severus was fighting back some strong emotions.

When Remus had told him about Harry's reaction earlier, he had been in partial denial. He just couldn't imagine that Harry would be concerned over his well being. After all, the boy had, yet again, saved his life. Surely he knew that he was fine.

But Remus said that after his panic attack, Harry had called out for him several times in his sleep. When Severus heard Harry cry out 'Snape', something in his heart tugged and he had immediately pulled him into his arms.

His conversation with Harry had been enlightening. Harry truly could not remember what happened. He made a mental note to strangle Weasley and Granger for not explaining who had died to the boy.

But then he paused. No. He couldn't punish them for that. They plus Longbottom, the other three Weasleys, Susan Bones, and Luna Lovegood had been the only students he'd seen fighting. Everyone else, including the adults, had fled. Well, except for Tonks and the other Auror, a man named Thistlewood. They had also fought.

Tonks had told him and Albus everything that had happened once all the wounded had been delivered to the infirmary.

"_We heard Harry yell for everyone to take cover but before we could react, we found ourselves tied up. I watched in mere fascination as Harry taunted Voldemort from various places around the village_. _When he had finally shown himself, he had sheer determination in his eyes. It was actually very inspiring. Had I __not__ been tied up, I'd have found myself defending him, regardless of the fact that was my job."_

"_How did you escape?" asked Albus._

"_Harry," the Auror said with a slight smirk, which then faded. "He conjured a dust storm. Before anyone could do anything, I felt myself being apparated away. He saved me and Thistlewood. And, of course, before we could stop him from going back into the battle, he apparated away again."_

_Severus shook his head. He was going to have a serious talk with Harry about this Gryffindor hero complex._

"_And have you learned where the Auror Corps was during the fight?"_

_To his surprise, Tonks looked utterly disgusted. The Auror's had apparated into Hogsmeade twenty minutes after the Dark Lord had left._

"_Scrimgeour heard of the battle and sealed the Floo network, claiming it was a ploy by the Headmaster to steal more of his Aurors. The Aurors didn't care, especially since most have children that attend Hogwarts, and tried leaving via other ways, but the Minister shut those down as well. Finally, Madam Bones defied Scrimgeour and reopened the floo network herself."_

_Severus only shook his head. He couldn't wait until that man was out of office. The deaths that occurred could be placed squarely on the Minister's head, not that they would be, of course._

"How are you feeling, Severus?"

He looked up at the Headmaster. "Tired mostly. Did you need something?" He thought the man looked exhausted. With proof that Voldemort was back, the Headmaster was nearly assaulted by hundreds of owls each day.

"Not precisely. I came to see how you two were fairing. Are his injuries gone?"

Severus nodded. "He's still sore from the combined blood loss and the magical exhaustion but he should be out of here tomorrow." The scar on his back is something that Severus doubted he'd ever forgive himself for causing.

"I figured. We're going to have Madam Hooch's memorial tomorrow. Afterwards, I'd like for you and Harry to join me in my office. I've put it off for too long. I need to disclose the prophecy to the both of you."

"Harry doesn't -"

"Yes, he _does_, Severus. I've kept this from you both for too long."

He simply nodded and watched the Headmaster leave the hospital wing.

* * *

Harry was in a somber mood on Tuesday morning. He was currently sitting with Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Susan as the service for Madam Hooch ended.

Susan had come to see him last night in the infirmary.

"_It's too dangerous," protested Harry._

"_Hermione said you'd say that. I don't care, Harry. Before the attack happened, I was having a good time. I enjoy spending time with you."_

"_But I'm worried for your safety."_

"_Give me a little credit. I __can__ defend myself. The only reason I was knocked out is because I wasn't counting on the fountain exploding. A piece of that is what knocked me unconscious."_

_Harry glared at her and nearly laughed as she glared back. "It's in my nature to protect first and ask questions later," he finally admitted._

"_And I doubt I'd like you as much if you were any different."_

_He simply rolled his eyes at her._

All during the service, she had held his hand, offering silent support and he had very much appreciated it.

"Harry?"

He looked up to see Snape approaching the aisle where he had been seated. "Yeah?"

"We have an appointment in an hour to see the Headmaster."

"For what?"

"He wants to discuss something with us. Be at the gargoyle by then and we can go up together."

"Okay."

"C'mon mate, some fresh air will help," whispered Ron.

He nodded and they started walking toward the Great Hall doors when a third year Slytherin came up to him. He vaguely remembered throwing himself in front of a stray curse that, had it hit, would have knocked most of them out.

"Harry?" squeaked out the third year.

He stopped and turned around. "Yes?"

"I ... just wanted to ... well ... you know ... thank you for protecting us this past Saturday."

Harry was slightly flustered. "Anyone would have done it."

"Not for us," replied a girl beside of the boy who had spoke.

"Then they would have been in the wrong. During the attack I saw two kinds of people. The bad guys and the innocent. I didn't see Houses. I'm just glad you all are okay." He then turned and walked outside with the rest of his friends.

He'd never been able to handle gratitude very well, and it was no doubt evident across his face because he could practically feel the heat coming from it.

He and his friends gathered near the Black Lake and for the next hour or so, shared their memories of Madam Hooch with each other.

Harry then had Hermione cast the tempus charm to see what time it was. To his surprise, almost two hours had passed since the service ended. He immediately jumped up. "Sorry guys. I'm late. I'll catch up with you later."

He then walked as fast as his body allowed toward the Headmaster's office.

The gargoyle simply jumped out of his way upon seeing him, which when he thought about it later, he found to be very odd.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," he said as he pushed open the Headmaster's office door.

"It's all right, Harry. I realize this has been a tough few days," Dumbledore replied, softly.

He then eyed Snape.

"I'm not angry," the man said.

He let out a breath of relief he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He then took the seat next to Snape.

"Your father tells me you're still having trouble remembering how you saved him."

Harry flushed. "Yes, sir. It's like it's on the tip of my tongue, so to speak."

Dumbledore produced his pensieve and put a memory into it. "I think you should see it from my point of view." He then tapped the side of the object, which made the memory play out above it.

Harry watched in morbid fascination as he twisted on the ground. He could hear Snape and Dumbledore both trying to talk him into pushing Voldemort out, which he suddenly did.

He then watched in horror as Voldemort sent the Killing Curse straight at Snape and vanished.

Harry blinked unbelievingly as he suddenly (and very calmly) sat straight up, put his hands together - palms out, and simply shoved - though he didn't physically touch anyone. The result ended up with Snape being knocked backwards, the curse flying over Snapes' head (indeed missing him by only two inches), hitting a building, and himself passing completely out.

"I did wandless magic?" he asked in sheer disbelief.

"An impressive feat of it, too. Have you ever done it before?"

"Once. Last year. I summoned my glasses to me one morning while I was half asleep. I hadn't realized what I had done until half an hour later."

"That reminds me. We need to take you to Ollivanders to procure a new wand for you."

"Was my old one found?"

"I'm sorry, Harry. It appears that Tom took it."

"I imagine Voldemort will be watching Ollivanders because he knows I'm going to have to get a new wand."

"When we go, I plan on having the entire Order present. You need not worry about your safety."

Harry made a face. "It's not my safety I'm concerned with." He opened his mouth to say something else then briefly closed it when he felt a whisper of a voice go through his ears. He looked around but didn't see anyone. It did it again.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked, no doubt confused by his odd behavior.

Snape was also watching him, a perplexed look on his face.

He frowned again before a wave of recognition passed through him as to what he was hearing. "Do you think Ollivander would like basilisk wand core ingredients?"

Snape's eyes widened. "Surely it's decayed beyond use by now."

He shook his head. "The castle is preserving it. I figure you could get potion ingredients, too."

"Is it big enough to be harvested for both wand and potion ingredients?"

Harry snorted. "Oh yeah. I don't see why we couldn't go down after we're done here."

* * *

Albus nodded. He was curious about this basilisk, but first, he needed to share the prophecy. It could not be put off any longer. He had allowed Harry the sidetrack but it was time to get to business.

"We will head down afterwards, but first, I need to tell you both the prophecy."

He saw Harry sit up straighter. Severus, he saw, frowned at his son.

He then pulled the memory of the event from his head and placed it in the pensieve and with a sigh, tapped the side of the object.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..._"

He sighed again as he watched the pensieve return to normal since the scene had finished playing out. He then looked up into the eyes of father and son.

Albus found that he wasn't surprised by Severus' reaction. The man had panic written all over his face.

Harry's reaction, however, had him more than a little concerned. The boy had gone pale, then simply nodded as if this revelation didn't surprise him in the least.

* * *

Severus could feel the blood drain out of his face as he digested the prophecy. When he had told what he heard to the Dark Lord, he had essentially condemned his own son to death.

"Harry?"

Albus' voice startled him slightly.

"What are you thinking?"

He let his eyes drift over to his son. What he saw in the boys' eyes alarmed him.

It was acceptance. Not denial. Not even anger. Only acceptance.

"That means that one of us will eventually kill the other, right? That he won't truly be gone unless I'm the one that kills him?"

His gaze drifted back to the Headmaster.

"It does, indeed."

To his horror, Harry nodded. "I figured as much. So, are we ready to head to the Chamber?"

"Wait. I want to discuss this," demanded Severus, after finding his voice.

"He's right, Harry. We should talk about this, at least a little."

He saw Harry frown then give a resigned sigh. "Can you play it one more time?"

Albus touched the side of his pensieve, which caused Trelawney to rise and start speaking again.

"What is this power I have that he doesn't? And what is this about him marking me as his equal? I'm no where near as powerful as Voldemort."

Severus eyed his son incredulously.

"Harry, how did you manage to push him from your body?"

"Err ... by doing what Professor Snape said - occluding and shoving."

"And what memory did you pull to the front of your mind that allowed you to do so?"

He saw Harry flush slightly. "I used the memory of when I was given my own room. I used how that made me feel."

Severus looked away. That should have made him feel good that he was able to offer something so simple it had allowed Harry to reign in enough emotion to push the Dark Lord from his body. But it didn't. It made him want to kill the Dursley's for offering Harry so little in life that, while he should have had a ton of memories to choose from, he didn't.

"And do you remember what you said to him?" pressed Albus.

He saw Harry close his eyes to remember. "That I felt sorry for him. That he'd never know love or friendship."

"That's exactly right. It was the emotion of love that pushed him out of your body. I told you once before _that_ emotion is something Tom cannot stand to feel. That is why your mother's protection was so valuable to you."

Severus scoffed. "Seriously, Albus? Love? That must be the Gryffindor in you talking. What is he supposed to do? Kiss the Dark Lord to death?"

The portrait of Phineas Black snickered, which got an annoyed glare sent his way.

"Honestly, Severus. I don't know what I'm going to do with you. No, Harry is not going to kiss Tom to death, although, it probably _would_ give him a heart attack."

"He's not the only one, sir," Harry said with a slightly green tint to his skin. No doubt the thought of kissing someone who highly resembled a snake was no where near appealing.

"As I was saying," Albus said with a pointed glare, "it was the emotion behind the memory that protected you. It was the emotion of your mother's love that protected you. And it will be the emotion behind the spell you cast at Voldemort that will eventually kill him."

Severus desperately wanted to roll his eyes. The Killing Curse could only be cast if a person feels an intense hatred. Was the Headmaster honestly suggesting it could be cast with an intense feeling of love as well?

Harry sighed again. "I won't cast the Killing Curse. I don't believe I have enough _power_ to cast it."

"No," said Albus. "I don't want you casting that curse. It can cause your soul irreparable harm."

"Then I don't know how to kill him."

"In time, my boy, it will be revealed to you exactly _how_ you will defeat him."

Severus frowned at the Headmaster. The man wasn't helping any at all. He then looked over at Harry.

"And my other question? How could he mark me as his equal? I'm no where near as powerful as he is."

"Honestly, Potter. You just stood toe to toe with the Dark Lord on your own."

"I _thought_ so, until I saw the Headmaster duel with him. I can't duel like that. Besides, I kept getting weaker because I'm not used to putting my full power behind every spell I cast."

"Harry, starting on the 9th, I will begin teaching you elemental magic. You clearly know some, but I will teach you how to use what you know and develop it into even more."

"Really?"

The Headmaster nodded. "As for your question, he marked you as his equal the night he gave you that scar. There ... was another boy that could have been the one the prophecy spoke of."

"Neville!" blurted out Harry, wide eyed.

Albus nodded. "Yes. His parents had also defied Voldemort and his followers three times and he was born at the end of July as well."

"But I'm the one it's about since he marked me, aren't I?"

Severus thought his son sounded ... sad and determined all at the same time.

"It is. Had he heard the full thing, he most likely would have waited to see who would become the weaker wizard, but he never really had a lot of patience."

"Neville's not weak!" Harry said, hotly.

"I never said he was," pointed out the Headmaster.

"That reminds me," interjected Severus, "Longbottom seems to have an issue with his wand. Either that, or he truly cannot hold a shield."

Harry frowned. "Would the fact that it's his dad's wand make a difference?"

The Headmaster's eyes widened. "He didn't have a wand choose him?"

Harry shook his head. "His grandmother gave him his dad's wand to use. He told me that it was her hope that he would live up to his dad's legacy."

Severus merely groaned. Augustus very well could have caused her grandson's death this past weekend because the wand he had been using wasn't his. It actually was a testament of Longbottom's strength that he had done as well as he had.

"I'll go and talk to her this evening. Mr. Longbottom needs his own wand. Don't mention anything to him, Harry. If I can convince her to take him to get his own wand, we'll take him with us tomorrow when we take you to get yours."

Harry nodded.

"Any other question's?" the Headmaster asked Harry.

Severus watched his son think for a second then nod, slightly hesitant.

"When he ... marked me, did he mark me as his equal by giving me a power boost?"

Severus watched the Headmaster close down his expressions a little. He had been around the older man long enough to recognize the signs. That, more than anything, caused his heart beat to quicken.

"I do believe that he transferred some of his powers to you. I'm sure you remember in your second year when I explained that was where you got your parseltongue ability from. As for him transferring actual _power_ to you, no, I do not believe he did. The power that you wield was given to you by your mother and father."

He saw his son give him a wide-eyed look, but eventually nod. He was going to have to corner Albus later to find out why the man had shut down somewhat. Clearly everything was _not_ being explained.

"What about the part that said that neither can live while the other survives?" questioned Severus, out loud.

To his surprise, Harry answered him.

"Would you consider what I'm doing now living? Or surviving? While he's alive, I won't have a normal life. Heck, I doubt after he's dead, assuming _I'm_ still alive, I'll have a normal life, but at least it'll be somewhat calmer."

"He's right, Severus. Right now Harry is merely surviving. He won't be free to live his life until Voldemort is gone for good."

Severus scowled at the response.

"Now, any other questions? If not, we can head down to see your basilisk."

Clearly showing the snake off meant more to Harry than the prophecy did because his sons' eyes lit up.

"We'll need a broom for each of us."

Severus raised an eyebrow but stood nonetheless. They would summon brooms when they got to the entrance.

* * *

Harry was walking down to the second floor girls bathroom, lost in thought. He knew Snape and Dumbledore were behind him because they were talking quietly.

So his life had to either include or end in murder. He should have known it'd come down to that. When has his life ever been his own?

He also knew that the Headmaster was holding out on him. He had seen the subtle play of emotions on the man's face when he had asked the power question. But what was he holding out?

As for Neville and his wand, he had wondered, ever since his friend had explained it was his dad's wand to him in their second year, if that was why he had trouble with some of his spell work. At the time he had thought maybe it was some custom to hand down the wand from father to son, but he eventually coaxed it out of Neville that it was his grandmother's hope that he would be worthy of using his father's wand. He hadn't thought it right when he said that, but held his tongue because he figured that, once again, he was missing some type of knowledge in the Wizarding world.

He desperately hoped Neville's grandmother would let him get his own wand.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he went to automatically push the girls bathroom door open - except he found himself being pulled back by both Snape and Dumbledore.

"Potter, there could be someone in there."

He snickered at Snape. "There won't be. It's Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. No one ever goes in there." Before either could protest again, he pulled from their grasp and entered the bathroom.

"Hello, Harry."

"Hi, Myrtle. Anyone else in here?" he asked for the benefit of the two adults behind him.

"No. Only you and Luna come to visit me."

"I'm sorry I can't talk today. I'm taking the Headmaster and Professor Snape down to see the Chamber."

She sniffed. "Have fun."

"Come here often, my boy?" questioned Dumbledore. His voice held a bit of amusement in it.

"Not lately," he snickered. He then turned to face the sink. "_Open,"_ he hissed in parseltongue.

Snape and Dumbledore watched in morbid fascination as the sink formed itself into a tunnel. By the time it was done, the summoned brooms had arrived and had been passed out.

"It's a little dusty and we might have to make a bigger hole around the cave-in." Having said that, Harry flew down the pipe.

* * *

Albus watched in quite a bit of interest as Harry opened door after door. It was when they came upon the shed snake skin that he felt his breath leave him.

"I thought you said the castle was preserving the snake," said Severus. He could hear the frown in his voice.

Harry laughed. "It is. That's just a snake skin. The actual snake is in the Chamber."

"Albus, that skin's at least forty feet long," hissed the man in alarm.

He nodded as he stepped over it.

They finally arrived at a door with a snake inlay. When it opened, he merely stood there gazing at the sight in front of him.

He was in complete and absolute shock.

If he'd have glanced at Severus, he would have seen the mans expression mirroring his own.

Harry turned around. "Uh, are you two coming in? It's dead. I promise."

Albus blinked slowly and began moving to the beast. It was easily sixty feet long. "There is no way you should have survived a bite from something that large," he whispered.

"Of course not. Merlin forbid I be a normal kid," scoffed Harry. "So, do you think there's enough here for potion _and_ wand ingredients?"

Albus eyed Harry. The boy had a smirk on his face. He then turned around to look at Severus. The potions' master still hadn't moved from the entrance.

"Severus. Severus!"

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"Come down here."

He watched as the man inconspicuously shook his head before crossing the room.

"Don't touch it!"

Albus whipped his head around to see Harry poking the snake.

"It's not hurting me. I guess after it bit me, I became immune to its blood."

"Perhaps it'd be best not to push your luck," chimed in Albus. He could see Severus twitching to pull his son away from the creature.

"I'm not sure what Ollivander would want harvested and how. Perhaps when we return to my quarters we can send him a letter and he could send an elf to harvest a few things."

"Works for me," Harry said as he shrugged his shoulders.

While Severus summoned a couple elves to discuss how to harvest certain ingredients, Albus walked over to Harry, who had sat down near the pool of water beneath the statue.

"Did _they_ help," he whispered?

"They did. The change in the air that I felt was them doing something to buy me time so that Fawkes tears would work."

"I am sorry, Harry. I truly did not realize that such a beast existed in Hogwarts."

"Why are you apologizing to me?"

"Because you should have _never_ had to face something like that."

Harry shrugged. "It's, apparently, what I do. Besides, I saved Ginny's life. That was worth more than anything. And honestly, if it meant saving someone all over again, I'd not even hesitate."

"And that, my dear brave young man, is what sets' you _apart_ from Voldemort."

Harry looked up into his eyes and smiled.

* * *

A/N: Anyone else notice that Harry has no problem facing down evil Dark Lords, but when it comes to girls, they boss him around a lot? LOL

Anyway, this was originally two chapters, but I felt bad for how long its taken me to post it, so I combined them. I'm sure there are probably a couple mistakes and I tried to catch them all. (I'm still editing on my computer, blech.) Anyway, I think I went through five or six editing spree's before I caught that each time I had the word Voldemort, I had the word the in front of it, so he was constantly the Voldemort. Needless to say, that was not a pleasant find. lol

The reason Harry still calls Snape uh ... Snape is because it hasn't dawned on him yet to call him anything else. Even in his subconscious he calls him Snape.

Extra cookie for those that guess what causes Harry to mention the basilisk. ;)

Not sure when the next chapter will be up. When I combined these two, it messed with a couple of things in it. I'm hoping within a week. At least that's what I'm aiming for. Anywho, my birthday is Sunday, so I'm not sure how much I'll get written/typed this weekend. Depends on if my family remembers it this year. *glares at family*

I also want to thank everyone that's been leaving reviews. And a general thank you for everyone that's been keeping up with the story for as long as it's turning out to be. LOL :)

*leaves snacks and flees before can be caught*


	112. Arguments and Apologies

Disclaimer: *fiddles with things* Bah! Still don't own HP!

* * *

Chapter 112

* * *

Harry and Susan were currently sitting in the Room of Requirement on a sofa. They had been in the room for fifteen minutes and so far, had spent the entire time arguing.

"I insist, Harry. I'm not afraid."

"I'm afraid _for_ you, Susan. I'm 100 percent sure that if the Death Eaters had known we were on a date this past Saturday, they would have killed you simply to hurt me."

"Oh, honestly, Harry. Not everything is about you."

Harry grimaced. "That's my point exactly. It's not about me. It's about protecting everyone else."

"Why are you being so pig-headed about this?" she demanded.

"Because I care," he replied in a small voice.

"Do you care about Ron, Hermione, and Neville then? Because I don't see _them_ getting the same speech I am."

"They've already been on the receiving end of this speech. Evidently they're as stubborn as I am."

"Add me to that list, then. I don't know why You-Know-Who is targeting you specifically and frankly, I don't care. All I know is that I am _not_ afraid."

Harry got up and began pacing the room. "Well, that makes one of us because I'm terrified."

A glance at Susan showed her disbelief.

"I didn't see fear once on your face the entire time you fought. Up until I was knocked out, anyway," she pointed out.

With a frustrated sigh, he threw himself back onto the sofa next to her. "I can promise you that I was definitely afraid for everyone." He ran a hand through his hair, making it even more messy than it had been.

"Harry," asked Susan softly, "do you not have _any_ self-preservation?"

"Of course I do. I just don't use it very much."

She rolled her eyes. "That much is obvious. Look, since you're afraid of anyone finding out we're dating, we can keep it a secret."

"Nothing stays a secret in Hogwarts. You _know_ that."

"We already hang out together. No one will think twice about us studying with each other or even walking to class together."

"I thought girls liked to declare their dating someone," he said with confusion in his voice.

"What, in Merlin's name, makes you think _that_?"

"Isn't that why girls giggle? Because they're dating someone?"

She suddenly started laughing, which didn't improve Harry's mood any, but she did appear to be trying to control it. "Oh, Harry. You have _so_ much to learn."

He simply scowled at her.

* * *

Severus watched as Harry practically ran to the Gryffindor table for dinner. This past weekend was the first time many of them had ever seen a battle and naturally, everyone was curious.

Harry, he could see, was not eager to share his thoughts and experiences, which disappointed many of his classmates.

Finnigan and Thomas also appeared to be talking to him again. He merely rolled his eyes at how easily the masses were swayed.

He then let his gaze linger on his own House. The third years were practically worshiping Harry for saving them during the battle. (He thought that the Death Eaters had been careless about who they cast at because he seriously doubted any of the third years would be recruited now - unless they were _made_ to take the Mark when they turned seventeen.) The rest of the House was doing their best to avoid talking about it.

He did notice that Malfoy was, as usual, holding court amongst the 4th, 5th, and 6th years. Harry had told him about his encounter with Malfoy during the battle. Despite the fact he worried about where the blonde's loyalties lay, he was glad he had refrained from participating. He hadn't yet heard if Lucius knew his son hadn't participated.

After dinner let out, he headed down to his Quarter's. Classes had resumed this past Monday in order to instill a sense of normalcy, but he hadn't given any homework because he had been brewing potions for the Infirmary. (Most of his students were still in shock over the fact they had not been given homework.)

An hour had passed when Harry entered his quarter's.

"Hi," he said.

"Evening."

"Is it okay if I stay down here tonight?"

"It is."

Harry blew out a rush of air. "Thanks. I know I'm going to have to face everyone sooner or later, but I need one more night of solitude before I do."

He nodded. "We'll be leaving in the morning to obtain a new wand for you. You're excused from your morning classes while we go to Ollivander's."

"Did he send an elf to get some of the basilisk ingredients?"

Severus snorted. "According to Dobby, he sent four elves. If how excited they were reflected on Ollivander's state of mind, then I imagine he was beside himself with glee when he received my letter."

Harry smiled. "Good. I'm glad he's getting something to use. I'm still tired so I'm going on to bed."

"Before you go, I need to apologize to you."

"For what?" He furrowed his brow in confusion.

"The cutting curse. The one that nearly killed you. I was the one who cast it."

"Why would you apologize for that? I'm sure you weren't aiming for me."

"I was aiming for Bellatrix but she deflected the curse. Nevertheless, I _am_ sorry. The scar on your back will always be there because of my ineptitude."

"What's one more scar?" Harry shrugged. "And there's nothing to forgive. Honestly. I'm fine, now. I'm just tired."

He nodded, paused, then said, "Tomorrow, we need to discuss what the Dark Lord showed you."

He heard Harry give a resigned sigh as he bid his goodnight and headed into his room.

* * *

Harry blinked in confusion before he realized where he was. He eyed the clock next to his bed and groaned when he saw it was pointing to 'too early'.

His nightmares had been brutal. Images of death had assaulted him all night. Plus, he was dreading the conversation he was going to have with Snape later that morning.

After a quick trip to the loo, he returned and pulled out his journal and began to write. He did so until the clock chimed 'time to get up'.

A half hour later found him in Snape's kitchen looking for something to drink. By the time the man came out of his rooms, Harry was on his third cup of tea.

To his surprise, Dobby provided them both with breakfast a few minutes later.

"Are we not required to be in the Great Hall this morning?"

Snape shook his head. "I told the Headmaster we'd be eating breakfast here since we have a lot to discuss."

Harry nodded as he went to make himself yet another cup of tea.

Twenty minutes later found them sitting in the library.

"What all did the Dark Lord show you?" Snape asked, bluntly.

"That you were the one who told him there was a prophecy and what you had heard of it. He also showed me several images of you torturing various people and killing some of them." Harry trailed off then frowned up at Snape. "There was also a vision he started to show me of you ... taking someone by force, but I was able to cut him off halfway through it. I didn't want to watch that!"

A glance at Snape showed that the man was paler than usual. "First of all, I have _never_ forced myself upon anyone. That image by the Dark Lord was a lie."

Harry felt himself relax minutely. He had doubted it was true but he also knew that Snape had to keep up appearances as a believable Death Eater. Which raised an important question in his mind ...

"Then how were you able to remain in Voldemort's good graces if you didn't have to force yourself on anyone?"

"You said he showed you images of me torturing people?"

Harry nodded.

"That is how. I wasn't forced to take part in _sport_ so long as I showed no problems torturing people."

"You had no problems torturing people?" asked Harry incredulously.

"Of course I had problems with it, you idiotic boy, but they had to believe that I did not."

He grimaced at Snape's tone. It had been a while since had heard that particular tone. Not that he blamed Snape for it, of course. Thinking on it revealed it had been a stupid question.

"The red headed woman - was she the one you had to kill for the loyalty test I warned you about?" he asked softly, when it appeared that Snape wasn't going to be saying anything else anytime soon.

"She was. She was also the only one I killed with the Killing Curse so if the Dark Lord showed you any differently, he lied again."

Harry frowned.

Snape had then gone on to explain how he had heard the prophecy.

They had been sitting in silence for a couple of minutes when Harry suddenly glared at Snape. "When Voldemort showed me that you were the one who told him the prophecy, I felt betrayed. Truthfully, it wasn't that you had told him the prophecy, either. It's that you didn't tell _me_ you told him." He narrowed his eyes at the man. "I'm sick and tired of finding out the important things through Voldemort. Is there anything _else_ I should know?"

"I ... am sorry, Harry. It honestly never occurred to me to tell you. But no, I can't recall any other secret that I should inform you of that the Dark Lord also knows."

Harry nodded. Snape didn't appear to be lying, which was a good thing because he doubted he'd be able to take any more surprises.

"When are we leaving to go get my new wand?"

"In half an hour. Which reminds me, while we are at Ollivander's, I want no heroics from you if we are attacked. You are to stay behind the Order members and if one of them apparates you away, you are _not_ to apparate back."

He scowled but nodded. "All right. Speaking of apparating ... did I get fined for doing it without a license? I've not gotten a letter ..."

"No. Once Alastor declared you proficient, Albus quietly registered it in a sealed file."

"He can do that?"

"Technically yes, but not very often. He went to the Head of the Law Enforcement Department and together, they decided that with you being who you are, it was probably best to quietly register you as having a license in case the Minister wanted to punish you should you be caught."

He nodded. "Is Neville going with us?"

"That, I'm not sure of. The Headmaster wanted me to also inform you that he was going to talk to the Order to see about having them train you in certain battle magicks. I will also begin training you as well."

Harry's eyes widened. "That would be awesome!"

Snape snorted.

Ten minutes later found them walking into the Headmaster's office. When he fully opened the door, he saw Neville and his grandmother sitting down in some chairs.

"Harry!"

"Hey, Neville."

"Guess what?" he asked, tugging Harry into a corner while lowering his voice.

"What?"

"Gran told me she's proud of me for helping to defend the people in Hogsmeade and for keeping alive during the fight with Bellatrix. She told me that I've finally lived up to my dad's reputation and as a reward, she's taking me to get my own wand!"

Harry smiled. "That's great, Neville. I'm proud of you too. Bellatrix is insane. I still feel you should have _always_ had your own wand."

"I know, but at least I know that Gran's proud of me, now."

Behind Neville, Harry saw his grandmother's cheeks color and saw that she grimaced.

"So, you're coming with me today to get it, right?"

Neville nodded. It was clear his friend was ecstatic about getting his own wand.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, so he and Neville rejoined the adults.

"We have some rules that have to be agreed to by both of you before we can go."

He and Neville nodded.

"No heroics, from either of you. If you are told to get back, you'll obey without question. If you are portkeyed or apparated away, you will not return. We will also not be going anywhere else, so do not ask. Do you both understand?"

Harry nodded and so did Neville.

"Good. The Order is already at Ollivander's. Grab onto this portkey. It will put us straight into the shop."

Harry, Neville, Neville's grandmother, Snape, and Dumbledore grabbed onto a flashy sock and were suddenly whisked away across the land.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the delay. I bet I spent an entire week looking up wand possibilities for Harry and Neville. I've not typed that chapter yet, but I'm getting ready too. You should see the tons of notes I've taken about wood meanings, core meanings, and various other things. I think when I grow up, I want to be a wandmaker. lol Their so secretive! I want to find out what they're hiding! ;)

As you can see, Neville's grandmother is embarassed by what Harry said about how Neville should have always had his own wand. (Personally, I agree with Harry on the matter.)

And as you can see, poor Harry still has so much to learn about the female species. ;)

I wanna thank everyone that wished me a Happy Birthday. :) The day wasn't so bad and the family remembered this year. lol

Not sure when the next chapter will be up. I've not gotten a very good cushion space in between my posting and writing yet. I'm going to be at the library until 9 tonight, plus I'm going tomorrow as well, so hopefully, between the two days, I'll be able to get a couple more chapters written.

*sets out nice and juicy things for reviewers* ;)


	113. The Choosing of the Wand

Disclaimer: *looks under the nearest rock* Nope! Still don't own anything!

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Chapter 113

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Harry looked around Ollivander's shop with a slight grimace. He hadn't been back since he and Sirius were here a couple months prior to get refill supplies for his wand care kit.

With the exception of Tonks and Moody, the rest of the Order members were invisible. (He could see the magical signatures of various people around the room, except Moody's, but couldn't see the actual person.)

"Good morning, everyone," exclaimed Ollivander.

"Morning, sir," he and Neville replied simultaneously.

"I understand Misters' Potter and Longbottom need new wands?"

He and Neville nodded.

Ollivander looked back and forth between himself and Neville for several minutes when he suddenly declared, "Longbottom first!"

Harry inadvertently startled at the wand-makers tone of enthusiasm. From the corner of his eye, he saw Snape smirk.

He watched as Ollivander brought forth the first box. "Holly with a unicorn hair, 12 inches, bendy and swishy."

Neville picked it up, swished it, and Harry immediately dropped to the floor to avoid a black jet of flame that shot at the clock behind his head.

"Nope. Definitely not," Ollivander said as he snatched the wand from Neville.

Neville looked absolutely mortified at what he had done. "I'm _so _sorry, Harry."

Harry chuckled as he stood back up. "If you wanted to test my reflexes, you could have just asked," he said with amusement.

Before Neville could respond, Ollivander was opening another box for him to try.

"Yew. Dragon heart-string, rather rigid."

Neville whisked it through the air which caused the glass behind him to shatter. He carefully put it back in the box while Dumbledore repaired the window.

"Did you do that the first time you were in here?" whispered a horrified Neville.

Harry snickered. "I didn't break a window, but don't worry about it though. I imagine Ollivander's used to it."

A pile of about twenty-five wands had accumulated on the counter when Neville sat down on a stool with a dreary expression. "I don't think I'll ever find one that will choose me."

"Sure you will," encouraged Harry. "Hermione once told me that it took four hours before she got her wand."

"Ugh. That doesn't give me much hope. What if Gran won't wait that long? What if she decides I'm not worthy of my own wand, after all?"

Harry scowled. "Until you get one, I'm not leaving. I don't care what they threaten me with."

Neville gave him a sad smile.

Harry watched when, forty minutes later, Neville put his hand on a wand and swished it through the air. Not only did it leave trailing sparks of red and gold but a mini-whirlwind settled around him.

"Well done!" exclaimed Ollivander with delight. "Thirteen inches of cherry wood with a single unicorn hair as its core. Slightly rigid."

Neville positively beamed.

As the wand-maker started putting away the wands that didn't choose Neville, he said over his shoulder, "By the way, that unicorn nearly gored me because I was taking so long to collect its hair."

Harry snickered at Neville's expression.

His grandmother paid for the wand, a wand holster, and a wand care kit, much to Neville's surprise.

Once Ollivander had finished straightening up, he eyed Harry. "Now, Mr. Potter, lets see what we can find for you."

"You don't, by any chance, happen to have another wand with one of Fawkes' feathers, do you?"

"No, Mr. Potter, I don't. And the Phoenix wouldn't give me one yesterday either, when I asked Albus."

Harry frowned. Did that mean Fawkes didn't like him using his feather? Or that he wasn't worthy?

He looked up as the Headmaster put a hand on his shoulder.

"Whatever you're thinking, Harry, don't. I asked Fawkes why he wouldn't part with another feather and he seemed to think you and your magic will grow more with a different wand core now."

"More?" he hissed. "I don't want it to grow _more_."

The Headmaster smiled as Ollivander put a box in front of him. "I guess the protection of a brother wand is out of the question then," he muttered so low that only Dumbledore heard him.

"This one is another holly wand with a different Phoenix feather in it. Eleven inches."

With trepidation, Harry picked it up and flicked it. To his horror, the wand splintered down the middle.

"Dear Merlin. I'm sorry. I'll pay for that one too."

"Nonsense, Mr. Potter. This happens occasionally."

Harry groaned in embarrassment.

As Ollivander scurried to get another wand for him to try, Dumbledore leaned over and whispered, "you couldn't have counted on that protection forever."

"I know," grumped Harry. "Doesn't mean I won't miss it, though."

"Yew. Unicorn tail hair. Eleven and a half inches."

Harry picked it up and flicked it. Much to his disbelief, an entire shelf of wands collapsed, causing Ollivander to snatch it back and disappear down another row.

"I don't feel so bad about the window now," snickered Neville.

Harry glared at him. He then eyed Snape and beckoned him over. "What's your wand made of?"

Before the man could answer, Ollivander came back with a dark colored wand. "I'm curious, Mr. Potter. Ash. Eleven and a quarter inch, with three crushed scales of the basilisk you slew as its core."

Harry raised an eyebrow (subconsciously mimicking the look Snape often gives people) and made to pick up the wand. The second his hand touched it, the front window shattered - again.

Ollivander still seemed excited. "Was worth a try," he muttered.

He then glanced back to Snape (while Moody repaired the front window this time).

Snape was smirking at Harry.

He simply rolled his eyes.

"It's birch with a dragon-heart string," he finally whispered in his ear.

Harry then eyed Dumbledore.

The Headmaster laughed. "Not today, my dear boy. Maybe some other time."

Harry grinned and nodded.

"Cherry wood with a dragon-heart string. Very flexible."

Before Harry even fully touched it, Ollivander yanked it away and began muttering under his breath.

"Mr. Potter, what's your favorite thing to do?" called the wand-maker from somewhere deep in the shop.

"Fly!" he called back.

A minute later, the man appeared with a dusty box. He took the lid off and grinned. "Ivy with a snidget feather as its core."

Harry picked it up, flicked it, and watched Neville dive to the floor (narrowly avoiding a jet of white light).

"Geez, Harry, I said I was sorry."

As Harry helped him up, he heard Ollivander mutter something about the right track as he, once again, disappeared into the stacks.

* * *

Severus watched in slight amusement as Harry tried wand after wand. When the window was repaired for the third time, he leaned over toward Albus. "How long do you think we'll be here?"

"No idea," the Headmaster replied cheerfully.

Thankfully, he'd gotten his wand on the fourth try. He doubted he would have been able to sit still back then for as long as it was taking Harry to get his new wand.

Forty boxes and an hour later found Severus reading a conjured book. Tonks, he saw, looked utterly bored. Moody was staring out the window - no doubt looking for subversive dust bins or some such. Albus and Augustus were talking about something to do with transfiguration. Longbottom and Harry were chatting quietly while Longbottom and his wand got acquainted. He had no idea what the invisible order members were doing to keep themselves amused.

Perhaps another twenty minutes had passed when he glanced up to see Ollivander giving a shrewd, calculating look toward his son. It immediately caused his body to go on alert.

The box the man was holding was easily covered in five inches of dust. However, when he opened it, he saw that the wand looked recently polished.

The second Harry put his hand on it, the boys' eyes widened. A swish through the air caused it to emit red and gold sparks accompanied by a whirlwind like the one that had circled Longbottom earlier.

"Curious and wondrous all at the same time."

He saw Harry grinning. "What type is it?"

"It took me well over eight months to craft that wand and I've had it for almost fifty years."

"What is it?" pressed Harry.

Severus found himself curious as well.

"It's an eleven and a quarter inch Ivy wand. Smooth, supple, and its core contains seven finely ground up Chimera Scales."

The windows on the front door of the shop shattered.

* * *

Harry, who had been admiring his new wand, immediately turned and cast, _"Protego"_!

(After all, he had his wand, why would it shatter now. Surely this was an attack.)

Except ...

Harry's eyes widened in disbelief. He meant for his shield to be thrown over Snape and himself. In a way, it did. What he hadn't meant was for the shield to encompass the whole room.

He heard Moody give a gruff of a laugh. "It was accidental magic, Potter. Release the shield so I can fix the window."

He blinked slowly as he released the shield. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Snape about three shades paler than he should have been.

"Little over enthusiastic there, my dear boy," chuckled Dumbledore.

Harry scratched his head. "I ... uh ... guess so. I didn't make that window break, by the way."

One of the invisible order members started laughing.

"Albus, will you explain ...?" began Ollivander.

"Yes. Once we get back to my office."

Now Harry was really confused. Explain what? He watched as Snape paid.

"Everyone returning to Hogwarts, take hold of the sock. Otherwise, thank you for the guard. I'll be in touch shortly."

In the blink of an eye, he found himself in the Headmaster's office.

"Mr. Longbottom, I'm sure you'd like to finish visiting with your grandmother. When you're done, head on down to lunch. It should be starting soon. If Ms. Granger or Mr. Weasley ask where Harry is, tell them I have him. He will be in his Charms class."

"Yes, sir. Thanks for taking me."

"C'mon, Neville. I want to show you the proper way to clean your wand."

"Coming Gran!"

Harry watched as they left the room.

"Any particular reason you exploded the glass in the door?" asked Harry as he stared at Snape. He didn't know for sure the man had been the one that had done it, but he had a gut feeling that it was him.

Snape grunted. "What do you know of Chimera's?"

"I know Hagrid wants one so that probably means they're dangerous."

Snape groaned. "Of course he would want one. They're classified as XXXXX."

The Headmaster laughed. "Since they _are _so dangerous, that makes the wand core temperamental. Once a temperamental wand and its core choose a wizard, no one else can safely use it - unless of course, its allegiance is won - which is a different topic entirely. That means, under no circumstances, are you to let your friends use your wand."

Harry frowned. "I wouldn't anyway. My wand is a personal thing to me."

"What the Headmaster is trying to say is that while your Phoenix core wand _might_ have allowed another user - in say an emergency situation, your Chimera scale wand will not."

He groaned. "I'll need to warn my friends then. The last thing I want is for them to get hurt."

"That's an excellent idea. Now, as for the spell you cast, did you mean for it to encompass the whole room?"

He felt himself flush. "No, sir. I just meant to throw it over myself and Professor Snape."

Snape raised an eyebrow at him. "And why, pray tell, would you have done that?"

"To protect you."

"I don't need any protection," he snarled out.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Harry, humor me and cast a shield charm using only about 10 percent of your power."

He stood and walked away from his chair. _"Protego!"_

He watched in horror as his shield knocked everything off of the nearby shelves. He quickly cancelled it.

"That's what I was afraid of," muttered Dumbledore. "You and your Phoenix wand grew with each other, as such, your wand - more or less - knew how much power you intended to put behind a spell and adjusted."

"So, I'm _not_ a natural at controlling my power then?" he asked, horrified. All sorts of terrible scenarios crossed through his mind.

"I'd say you still are, however, until you and your wand get used to each other, then you are going to have some difficulties with how you normally gauge your power."

"Why would his wand need to get used to him?" asked Snape. "It either works or it doesn't."

"Harry, does that wand feel any different than your Phoenix wand did?" asked Dumbledore as he peered over his half moon spectacles.

"Yes," he said without any hesitation. "Every time I touch this wand, it almost feels like I can feel my own magic. I never felt that with my other wand."

The Headmaster nodded, as if he expected that answer. "Had Ollivander not had you try your other wand, this one would have chosen you as well. I'd wager, of the two, this one would be considered your main wand."

"But ... how can I have two wands?"

"It happens occasionally. Your mother had to get a second wand her sixth year because she hexed Potter so hard for being an idiot that her wand splintered."

"She did?" he asked, wide-eyed.

Dumbledore nodded. "Severus' grandfather had to have a second wand as well."

Snape snorted. "That's because the imbecile sat on it, causing it to break."

Harry laughed before he could stop himself. He then focused on Dumbledore. "Uh, sir. I have a charms exam on size charms after lunch."

Dumbledore scribbled out a note. "Give this to Professor Flitwick. It explains how you need to get used to your wand before you should attempt the practical portion of your test."

"Thank Merlin Voldemort didn't take my wand around my O.W.L. exam time." He then paused and thought for a moment. "I have no idea how to explain all this to Ron and Hermione."

"Tell them the truth. Tell them that you need to get used to your new wand. Explain how Longbottom practiced with his while you were still trying to find yours."

"I'd suggest making liberal use of the Room of Requirement over the next couple of days."

Harry sighed. "All right."

"If you head on down to the kitchen, you have time for a bite to eat before your charms class."

He nodded. "Yes, sir." That said, Harry left the Headmaster's office and headed toward the nearest secret passage that would take him to the kitchens.

* * *

A/N: I'm so incredibly sorry about how long it's taken me to update. My grandfather died on November 1st and ever since then I've had a big problem on focusing on something longer than five minutes at a time. Thankfully I had already had most of this scene written and I kept trying to add on another scene where Harry explained to Ron and Hermione about how they couldn't use the wand and whatnot and that almost always ended up with Hermione being a real Witch and Ron jealous. Once I finished trying to write that scene entirely, the next chapter just all of a sudden started pouring out of me. I should have known better than to fight the muse, lol.

Anyway, I'm still struggling a lot but I am taking time to write a bit each day. I really do appreciate all the reviews I'm getting and they really do encourage me, but sadly depression has been thumping me on the heart, head, and hands. I do believe I'm getting a little bit better day by day, so hopefully you all won't have to wait as long for the next update. I'd wager I'm halfway through the next chapter now.

As for why I chose what I did for Harry and Neville. Neville got the same wand he got in the book. As for Harry, I played around with it a bit and done quite a lot of research for magical animals and the types of wand. Sadly, I have no idea where those notes are at the moment. So when I post the next chapter, at the bottom, if most want it, I'll explain my meaning of giving Harry the Ivy and Chimera wand like I did.

And in case I'm asked about the accidental magic that Snape is showing. He's always been able to contain it ... until it comes to being surprised by something Harry does. He's still having a very hard time fathoming Harry is as powerful as he is. And honestly, he never even remotely considered him getting a wand that contained that core. hehe

*leaves out extra sweets and food to somewhat appease the long wait everyone had to put up with*


	114. Fluctutations

Disclaimer: As usual, I own pretty much nothing, except for a needy cat ... who insists on laying on my papers.

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Chapter 114

* * *

Severus stalked around the potions classroom as the 5th year Slytherins and Gryffindors took the written part of their exam. He eyed Potter. The boy had missed dinner for the past two days and he had missed breakfast that morning as well.

Today, he had every intention on finding out why.

After 45 minutes, students began to bring the written portion of their exam up to his desk before beginning on the brewing aspect. There was a charm component to the potion they were preparing today. He hoped Harry had managed to reign in his power some.

He had heard how Flitwick made Harry do the practical portion of his exam the other day, despite the Headmaster's note. Evidently when he had went to enlarge a glass of water, he had caused the room to suddenly flood with about three feet of standing water.

Minerva had then told him yesterday that during her transfiguration lesson, Harry had inadvertently incinerated a table. She had no idea how he had done it, either.

A knock at the door had him glancing up. A seventh year Gryffindor warily handed him a note before fleeing. He groaned as he read it. It was from Lupin.

"Potter! Your presence is requested. Gather your things. You will brew the potion this evening after dinner."

He saw relief flash through the boys eyes. He narrowed his own in thought. Had he constructed a way to get out of the exam?

As Potter left, he resumed walking around the classroom, making sure no one cheated, or in the case of Longbottom, caused something to explode.

* * *

Harry entered Lupin's office - where he had been instructed to go. He saw his honorary godfather grading papers.

"Thank you, sir. I would have never asked you to do that, but I have a feeling Snape would not appreciate me blowing up the dungeons."

Remus smiled at him. "Are you having any more luck controlling your magic?"

"I'm getting a little bit better but I'm no where near where I need to be, yet. If that potion hadn't required a charm half way through, I'd have been fine to brew it."

"What have your friends been saying about your magic being out of whack?"

"None of them know the full extent of just how out of whack it is," he said as he fidgeted on the chair. "Hermione has suddenly desired to learn what she can about wand lore and is getting upset that she can't find _anything_ on the subject. When Ron had explained that Ollivander did use things other than dragon heartstrings, unicorn hairs, and phoenix tail feathers, I think she thought he was lying. I'm still not entirely sure she believed me when I told her what my wand core was and why no one other than me could touch it."

"Wand-makers keep their knowledge held tightly to themselves."

"I know. She just really hates being denied information. She'll move onto something else eventually." At least, Harry hoped she would. His ears still rung occasionally as he remembered her shrill voice as she had demanded more information than he had been willing to part with.

Remus put down his quill. "Harry ... have you told your friends how powerful you truly are?"

He fidgeted again. "I'm not _that_ powerful."

"You are, Harry, and you need to realize that. Your friends need to know as well."

"Why?" he asked hotly. "Why should I tell them? Only Dumbledore can help me. Why should I burden them with the knowledge of something they can't do anything about? Why give them the knowledge of how big a freak I truly am?"

Remus swiftly got up and circled his desk. He then knelt in front of Harry. "First of all, you are _not_ a freak. We've had this discussion before," he said angrily. "Now, what's wrong? What's going through your head that won't let you share something this simple with your friends?"

Harry contained a sigh that threatened to escape. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm afraid I'll never get my power controlled and end up seriously harming someone." He then stood up. "I'm going to head up to the Room of Requirement to practice now."

Remus growled slightly. He had realized Harry never answered his question. He did have another one for him though. "And when are you and Ms. Bones going to stop pretending that you are not dating?"

Harry froze mid-step and turned around. "What ... what are you talking about?"

Remus stood back up and sat on the front edge of his desk. "Harry, everyone knows you're dating. By not saying so makes it seem like you're ashamed to be seen with her."

"But ... but she's safer if no one knows!"

"Oh, cub. Do you honestly believe that if you get attacked tomorrow, she still won't stand at your side? You're not giving her enough credit." He paused briefly before plowing on with his next question. "You are aware that Tonks and I have been seeing each other, right?"

"Yeah. It's one of the reasons I knew I had to save her this past weekend. I knew it would hurt you if something happened to her."

He groaned again. He was beginning to understand what Severus meant when he complained about Harry's hero complex. "Well, I didn't want to have anything to do with her because of my ... furry little problem. Do you think that's wrong?"

"You wanted to protect her?" guessed Harry.

"I did. Do you know what she said to me when she found out my reasoning? She told me that I was doing her a disservice by discounting her feelings. I gave it some thought and realized she was right."

"So ... you think I'm not being fair to Susan?"

"What do you think?"

Harry closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Remus was right. He couldn't protect her from everything. "I just want her to be safe. Being close to me paints a target on her back."

Remus circled back behind his desk and sat down. "And what did she say to that reason?"

Harry grimaced, clearly remembering her reaction. "All right. I'll talk to her. I'm going to the Room of Requirement now." That said, he headed up to the seventh floor before he could be ambushed with any more questions he didn't want to answer.

* * *

Severus eyed the Gryffindor table in frustration. Once again, Harry was not eating. There was _no_ excuse for this.

"Severus, I can feel your anger from here. What's wrong?" asked Albus.

"Potter's missing from dinner, _again_."

"He's most likely in the Room of Requirement," Lupin said on his other side. "At least, that's where he said he was going."

"Any particular reason you called him out of my class earlier?"

"He didn't want to blow up the dungeons. He's still having power fluxuation issues. I'm surprised he hasn't told you."

"Since Wednesday, other than class today, I've not seen him," admitted Severus with a frown.

"I thought you were going to begin teaching him a few things this evening?" questioned Albus.

"I am. Are you still going to be coming to the classroom after dinner?"

"Yes, Severus. You should have told me the coil needed replacing as soon as the pain started coming through."

He happened to glance up then and saw Harry enter the Great Hall ... hand in hand with Susan Bones.

"I'm glad to see he took my advice," commented Lupin as the two separated and headed to their own tables.

"Advice?" questioned Severus.

Lupin, no doubt, heard the frown in his voice. So he explained the conversation him and Harry had earlier.

Severus tamped down on the wave of jealousy that coursed through his blood. Harry should be coming to him for advice, _not_ the wolf.

* * *

"I thought you and Susan were calling it quits," muttered Ron through a mouthful of stew.

"Ugh, Ron. Chew. I told you before that we were trying to keep anyone from finding out so she wouldn't be a target. However, Remus told me earlier that everyone already knew, so there isn't any need to keep it a secret."

"What did Professor Lupin want?" asked Hermione with a frown.

"He needed to talk to me about something. After dinner, I have to head down to the dungeons to take the final portion of this afternoon's exam."

"Will you be coming back to the dorm afterwards?"

"Probably. We're supposed to go against Hufflepuff in Quidditch tomorrow."

"Do you think they'll still have the game? I mean, Madam Hooch was always the referee, with the exception of that one time Professor Snape refereed," said Hermione.

"It's Quidditch! Surely they wouldn't cancel it over something like that," the redhead muttered.

Hermione rolled her eyes in disgust at Ron.

After Harry finished eating, he told his friends he'd see them later and headed to where Susan was sitting.

She smiled up at him.

"I have to go to the dungeons. I have no idea how long I'll be, either."

After taking another drink of her water, she said, "I'll walk down with you."

As they were walking down the first set of stairs, she asked, "How's the whole dad thing going with Professor Snape?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm still getting used to the fact that he _is_ my dad."

"Did you tell him about us?"

Harry shrugged again. "Professor Lupin told me earlier that everyone already knows."

Susan stopped dead in the middle of the hallway. "Harry, you still need to tell him. It's proper. Even though we were keeping our relationship quiet, I still wrote and told my aunt."

"You did?" Harry asked, his voice squeaking horribly.

"Yes."

"What did she say?"

Susan smirked. "As long as I was happy, then so was she."

They arrived at the potions' classroom a couple minutes later and Harry released her hand. "I have no idea how long I'll be down here. I imagine Snape's gonna yell at me because of how many meals I've missed, too."

"I'll be in my common room. If you get finished before curfew, come see me, otherwise I'll see you in the morning." She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

A throat clearing had them jumping apart a split second later.

When Harry saw who it was, he felt himself flush. "H-Headmaster!"

"Evening Mr. Potter, Ms. Bones."

They heard him laughing as he headed into the potions classroom after they had both stammered their greetings.

"Will he ... you know ... tell Professor Snape?" asked Susan.

Harry noticed that she was red as well. "I don't think so. I'll see you in the morning. Something tells me I'll be lucky to make it back to the tower before curfew, now."

After watching her walk away, he turned and headed into the classroom. To his surprise, only Dumbledore was present.

"Uh, where's Professor Snape?"

"He'll be here shortly. We need to re-apply the coil over his Dark Mark. Do you remember the spell or do you need a refresher?"

He thought for a second. "I remember it, but uh, until I can control my power, I don't think I should. I might hurt him."

"I have the utmost faith in you, Harry, as does your father."

Harry sat down in a nearby chair. "That makes two of you then," he muttered.

Dumbledore sat down next to him. "Harry you need to have faith in yourself. You are old enough and should know enough about magic by now to realize that you need to believe in your own abilities."

"I believe in my own abilities well enough. It's my power I have an issue with."

Dumbledore sighed. "Have you been meditating any more?"

"Not lately. I've not had time. Between classes and spending every waking minute in the Room of Requirement, I stay exhausted."

"I think you'll find if you spend at least thirty minutes meditating each evening, you'll gain better control over your power."

"I'll be sure to start tonight then."

"I also think your father was going to begin some type of training with you this evening, after you finish the practical portion of your exam."

"He's what?" Harry then paused. "Crap. Sorry, sir. I need to start preparing my ingredients. If he walks in and I've not started, I'll get in trouble."

Snape strode into the room a split second later. "It's all right, Potter. You need to re-ward my arm. Afterwards, you may brew the potion."

Harry bit the inside of his cheek. He honestly hoped he wouldn't hurt Snape.

Fifteen minutes later found him looking at Snape somewhat hesitantly. "Is it ... is it okay?"

The man raised an eyebrow at him and said with some amusement, "Of course it is. Get started on the potion. Your time starts now."

Harry's eyes widened briefly before he started scurrying around the room to get everything he needed.

* * *

Severus watched Harry out of the corner of his eye as he graded papers. When it came time for the charm to be applied, he watched as the boy took a deep breath and murmured quietly while he waved his wand over the cauldron.

Thankfully, nothing exploded right away. That was always a good thing.

Thirty minutes later had him looking up as Harry put a crimson red potion on his desk. He internally frowned. The potion was supposed to be pale red - almost pink.

"I know it's the wrong color," Harry said in defeat before he started to clean up his work area. Afterwards he said, "Professor Dumbledore said you were going to start teaching me some things this evening."

Severus nodded. "Head to our quarters. I'll be there shortly."

He watched as Harry left. He then quickly graded the potion (the charm had been cast fine - it was the wrong color because he hadn't put enough vipersblade in it). He then grabbed his stack of papers and headed to his quarters. He found Harry sitting on the couch, reading a book.

"Is that the one that was on the table?"

Harry looked up and nodded.

"Read the first two chapters then we will begin with some basics."

"Yes, sir," he said quietly.

Severus sat down in a side chair to finish his grading. He then planned on spending a couple hours on wandless magic with the boy before he went back to the dorms.

* * *

A/N: First of all, I want to thank everyone who replied with condolences via review and PM with regards to my papaw. It's still hard, but day by day, I'm trying. I've started to write again and I'm finding some comfortable solace in it. Hopefully that will continue.

As for this chapter, I realize it's not big and nothing major is happening, but I figured after that battle everyone was due for a few days of nothing exploding or anyone attacking. It won't last. I can promise that. Now that Lord Moldy-shorts has revealed himself, he's just getting started.

I've had a few people ask what Harry's wand core and wood means - his new one. Why I chose what I did and all that other fun stuff. I dug out the notes that I took on wand lore (there were quite a few notes) so hopefully I can answer everyone satisfactorily.

Harry's second wand: smooth, supple, 11 1/4th inches, Ivy, 7 ground chimera scales

Smooth means calm and collected and while I agree that Harry is anything but in most situations, when it comes to fighting for his life, he carries a bit of calmness with him that has seen him through all of his previous battles.

Supple is good for a protector and defensive magic. Normally those that wield supple wands try to use kind magic and exhibit protectiveness. That explains both my Harry and JKR's Harry as well, at least I think it does.

The length doesn't really mean much, but it was about the same length as his previous wand.

Ivy. This is actually the type of wand that Hermione has - as it corresponds with her celtic birth month. (Holly also corresponds to Harry's celtic birth month.) As I looked at the different types of woods, I saw that Ivy also meant they were a survivor. They overcome all odds, have sharp intellect, compassion and loyalty to others. They have a giving nature, their life can be difficult at times, have a soulful grace, soft spoken, and have a keen wit. While some of these describe Hermione, I found that most of all of them suited Harry. Ivy wands are supposed to be good for transfiguration and defensive magic. While Harry sucks at Transfig, Hermione is a natural at it. And well, if anyone embodies defensive magic, it's Harry. LOL

As for the 7 ground Chimera scales. Seven is a magical number in most variations of wicca. As for the Chimera, unfortunately, this is where my notes fail me and what everyone tells me they want to know the most. I'll keep looking for them. Hopefully when I get the next chapter up (which I actually already have typed :p) I'll have found them and tell you why I chose that as his wand core, lol.

*hides from people who want to flog me*


	115. Reviewing and Learning

Disclaimer: See previous chapters! :P

* * *

Chapter 115

* * *

Harry felt like he had just fallen asleep when he heard an irritated yell come from his best friend.

"Whassa-matter?" muttered Harry as he pulled open the curtain surrounding his bed.

"Quidditch is canceled!" yelled an irate Ron.

Blinking rapidly, Harry sat up.

"There's a notice on the board in the common room," continued Ron. "Evidently it's too _dangerous_. Dumbledore knew You-Know-Who was back before and he didn't cancel Quidditch then!"

Rubbing his eyes in disbelief, Harry said, "Ron, last weekend Hogsmeade was attacked."

"You knew about this didn't you?" accused the redhead.

"Snape told me last night. You were off doing prefect duties when I got back or I would have told you then."

"This sucks. Why aren't you more upset?"

"At this very moment? Because I want to go back to sleep. Overall? Because it _is_ dangerous. Now that everyone knows Voldemort's back, security has been tightened. None of the teachers nor parents want a repeat performance of what happened last weekend and Merlin only knows the spells that could go flying through the air, especially at me."

"But Harry ... it's Quidditch!"

"Ron, shut up," growled Seamus from behind his curtains, "or I'm going to shut you up. I'm tryin' to sleep."

Harry glanced at the clock on the wall. It was pointing at half way to 'time to get up'. "Ron, why are you even awake?"

"Woke up and couldn't go back to sleep."

"No offense, but find something to do quietly because I _am_ going back to sleep." Having said that, Harry pulled the curtains closed and slammed his eyes shut.

* * *

Harry plopped down in the middle of the floor. He then laid back against it. He was exhausted. He finally felt like he was gaining some control of his magic. It still flared a little stronger than he liked but at least he wasn't blowing up tables ... or flooding classrooms anymore.

"_Tempus_," he muttered as he flicked his wand in the air.

'_Good,' _he thought. _'I still have 45 minutes before I have to meet Susan for lunch.'_

He visibly shuttered as he remembered Snape yelling at him the prior evening for not eating. He had told the stubborn man that he would head to the kitchens before curfew but that had made him angrier, claiming that if he had eaten dinner at the normal time then he wouldn't have needed to raid the kitchens.

After that conversation came the one of him dating Susan. Surprisingly Snape clammed up when he had informed the man that he and Susan had decided to make their relationship known.

And he had no idea why, either.

Groaning slightly as he pushed his way back up into a sitting position, he glanced around the room. The practice targets he'd been using highly resembled Umbridge. A part of him realized it wasn't a particularly good idea to throw spells at the pink monstrosity, but the bigger part of him took a great amount of glee in chopping her head off.

He idly wondered if he should work on wandless magic. Snape had explained that while it wasn't something the majority of the wizarding world could do, it was something that most of the students at Hogwarts had the capabilities of - if they applied themselves. However, he'd been made to promise not to tell anyone, even his best friends, that he'd be trying to learn it.

He'd even asked Snape to show him a few displays of wandless magic. He'd been highly impressed. He then sighed. He also promised Snape that he wouldn't attempt it without the man being present.

With a small grunt, he pushed himself back to his feet. He eyed one of the targets of Umbridge with a smirk. _"Bombarda!"_

"Oops," he said with a grin as pieces of the target flew around the room.

* * *

Severus was walking to the Great Hall when he was stopped by one of the miscreants he was attempting to glare away.

"What, Ms. Granger?"

"Have you seen Harry, sir? I can't find him."

"Not since last night. He might be with Ms. Bones."

"I've already seen her. He's not."

"If I see him, I'll be sure to let him know you are looking for him."

"Thank you, sir."

He watched her walk away and shook his head. He then continued his walk to the Great Hall. To his surprise, Harry and Ms. Bones were sitting at the Gryffindor table eating lunch.

He stalked that way, black robes billowing behind him.

"Potter!"

He saw Harry startle a little. "Yes, sir?"

"Granger is looking for you."

To his surprise, he groaned. "I know. I suppose I can't hide from her forever. I'll find her after lunch."

"Why are you hiding from her?"

"She's in full O.W.L. study mode."

"I hope you've already been studying for them."

Harry's eyes widened in panic.

"We have, sir," said Ms. Bones, calmly.

Snape nodded and strolled away with a knowing smirk. One thing was for sure - Ms. Bones could lie better than his son could.

He, and the present staff, were treated to an amusing spectacle twenty minutes later when Granger walked in with a red faced Weasley in tow.

The girl sat across from Harry and Ms. Bones. Weasley, he noticed, tried to sit further apart but Granger wasn't having it.

While he couldn't hear the conversation taking place, he could imagine what was being said.

Granger then pulled a notebook out of somewhere and reached across the table and hit Harry upside his head. She then turned it on Weasley.

Albus started snickering when Harry suddenly bolted from the table - Ms. Bones on his heels.

"I wonder what that was all about?" mused the Headmaster out loud.

On the other side of him, Lupin replied. "O.W.L. study schedules. Ms. Granger isn't pleased by the boys lack of enthusiasm in reviewing the previous material."

"Sometimes I wish I had your hearing," chimed in Albus cheerfully.

Severus just rolled his eyes.

* * *

"Can't we study charms first?" asked Harry quietly.

He, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Dean, and Susan were piled in the library. They had a silencing charm around the table but there was no sense in pushing Madam Pince's wrath.

"No. Transfiguration is the first on the list," stated Hermione as she pulled out a humongous notebook and the first year text book.

"Can I join you guys in studying for the O.W.L.'s?" asked a voice.

Harry looked up and saw Lisa Turpin, a Ravenclaw from their year, standing nearby.

"Of course," said Hermione brightly.

To his consternation, when Lisa took the empty seat on his left, Susan, who was on his right, glared.

He merely shook his head and dug out more parchment from his book bag.

An hour later found Harry repeatedly hitting his head against the table. "Hermione, I seriously doubt that they are going to put something a first year can do on our O.W.L.'s. I imagine it will be something like our potions O.W.L. that Ron told us about a while back."

Apparently that was not the right thing to say because he received an earful as to why going over the basics was necessary.

An hour later, as he pretended to take note of what Hermione was saying, he scribbled a message out to Susan.

'**I need a break. Fake an emergency.'**

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Susan fight a snicker.

'**No can do. She'll actually kill me when she realizes I was faking.'**

"Are you two listening?" demanded an irate Hermione.

"Hermione, we need a break. The words are blurring together," protested Harry.

He then saw Neville stand up. "I need to go, Hermione. If you try to shove anything else in my brain, it will explode."

"But we still have four more chapters to cover," she protested.

"Hermione, Susan and I are leaving, too. I'm tired and I'd like to spend time with her that doesn't involve us staring at a book."

"But ... I have a schedule! If we don't study according to it, we're going to fail."

"We'll be fine. The teachers are going to start reviewing with us on Monday," he said as he gathered his books up.

"Thanks for letting me join the study session, Hermione."

"Oh, no problem, Lisa. Anyone that wants to join us is more than welcome."

"How did you know we were studying this evening?" asked Susan.

"Hermione told me the other day during our Arithmancy class."

Harry slung his bag over his shoulder. "I won't be back to the dorm tonight."

"Why?" asked Ron.

He shrugged. "Snape wants me to stay down there tonight. I'll see you guys in the morning." He then took Susan's hand and dragged her out of the library.

* * *

Harry stared in horror at Snape - who was currently smirking.

"You have got to be kidding me," he protested.

"I can assure you that I am not."

"But ... but ... no! I won't!"

"Seriously, Potter. I'll be perfectly fine. I want to see what you can do."

"My magic is still somewhat on the fritz. I could hurt you!"

"Think highly of yourself, don't you?" asked Snape with a raised eyebrow.

Harry scowled.

"The Headmaster has offered one of the rooms down here for us to practice in. He warded it himself. When he and the Order begin training you, that room is where it will take place."

He sighed. "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."

A couple minutes later found Harry looking around what obviously was a large empty classroom.

"We're going to stick with the basics. You are going to try to disarm me."

"Uh. Ok."

He and Snape stood apart by about twenty-five steps.

"_Expelliarmus,"_ yelled Harry.

The spell went flying through the air and was absorbed by whatever personal shield Snape had erected.

"You weren't trying. Try!"

"I don't want to hurt you!"

"You won't hurt me. Disarm me. Now!"

"_Expelliarmus," _called Harry again. Snape merely stepped aside to avoid being hit.

A half an hour later finally had Harry holding Snape's wand - which Snape wordlessly and wandlessly summoned back to himself.

"How much power did you use?"

For a brief second, he was tempted to lie, but then he saw Snape glare, so he opted for the truth. "Not all of it."

Snape sighed. "Harry, you will _not_ hurt me. I want you to disarm me using your full power and strength."

Harry glared. Snape wanted his full power, fine, he would give him his full power.

"_Expelliarmus,"_ yelled Harry again, giving it all he had.

To his horror, despite Snape's personal and thrown shield, when the spell connected, the man went flying.

He immediately ran to where he landed. "Are you all right?"

"I am," came an irritated tone.

"I'm sorry. I tried to warn you."

"There's nothing for you to feel sorry about. You did exactly as I asked," Snape said as he stood back up.

Harry watched as Snape walked to the only cabinet in the room and pulled out the weirdest looking contraption he had ever seen.

He watched the man put the object on a conjured table in the center of the room.

"What is that?" asked Harry, curiously.

Snape eyed him with a weird expression. "For lack of a better term, they're scales. This will test your power."

"Test my ... power?"

"Yes. To have it gauge your power correctly, you have to cast a spell at it using your full power. It will help you gauge your own power usage for each spell you cast at it afterwards."

Harry saw red. "Do you mean to tell me that all this time I could have had an accurate way to make sure I could gauge my power correctly?" he demanded.

He didn't notice as the candles in the room flickered nor when Snape proceeded to cast several light orbs to circle the ceiling.

"Control your tempter, Potter. It's always best to learn on your own. This is just a tool to make sure you are right in your own assessment."

Harry took a deep breath. "Why wasn't I told about this before and why did you make me cast a spell at you using my full power when I had a way to not hurt you?"

"Harry, you didn't hurt me and before, you had control over your power just fine. After you get your magic firmly under control with your new wand, you won't need this thing ever again."

Harry simply glared at Snape.

* * *

Severus eyed his sleeping son. They had got back to their quarters about an hour before. He hadn't meant to keep Harry so long doing various things but he had been too curious for his own good.

The sheer power the boy possessed was simply unbelievable. Lily had packed a hell of a punch with her power, but what he felt tonight left Lily's power in the dark.

An hour before they had called it quits, he had conjured an indestructible target and added a few of his own spells to make sure that it couldn't be destroyed. He then told Harry to destroy it. Upon Harry's incredulous look, he had goaded the boy, telling him that he didn't think he could.

The target exploded on the sixth try. Harry told him that he had needed to reach for every bit of reserve power he had. He decided _not_ to tell him that he shouldn't have been able to destroy it at all.

With a sigh, he pushed himself out of the doorway to head to his room. He was in desperate need of a pain reliever. Despite his protests to Harry earlier, he wasn't okay. He hurt like he'd been cursed by the Dark Lord.

Opening his night stand, he pulled out a bottle and blindly downed it. He would never tell Harry that the boy had harmed him. With a grimace, he could only imagine what that would do to him.

Twenty minutes later found him sighing softly as he slipped into his bed. One day later this week, he would quiz Harry on what he had learned from reading the book on wandless magic.

With that plan in mind, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Harry and his new wand are slowly getting used to each other. It's amazing how using a target that looks like Umbridge will motivate someone. hehe

Up next, the teachers begin reviewing for the O.W.L.'s. bwahahaha

Right now the next chapter is way too short, but while I was posting this one, I got an idea that I can add to it. Hopefully I'll have it up by next weekend. As for me, I'm fighting some kind of cold and allergies so I took some benadryl earlier and it's kicking in, so if something sounds kinda wonky, then I blame the meds. *nods sagely and flees*

*comes back temporarily to leave sweets to bribe reviews then flees again*

;)


	116. Unpleasant Facts

Disclaimer: *hunts deep in the closet* Nope! Still no HP rights here!

* * *

Chapter 116

* * *

Monday morning found Harry staring blankly at Professor Binns. Today, the teachers were starting to review all the old material in order to get the fifth years ready for their O.W.L.'s.

The problem that he was currently having was that he had absolutely no idea what the ghost was talking about. Was this something they had already learned? If so, he was screwed.

A subtle glance around the room showed him that not everyone was lost. Actually, since this class consisted of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, he had a feeling that he could count on one hand who was lost ... and it wasn't any of the Ravenclaws. He briefly glanced at Ron. He frowned. Even Ron didn't look confused.

He blinked stupidly as he continued to write down what the ghost was saying, but none of it was seeping through to his brain. He desperately hoped none of the other classes were this bad.

It eventually came time for double potions. When he and his classmates entered the room, they found several ingredients on all the tables. There was also a note written on the board that told everyone to stand at the back of the room.

A minute later, Snape arrived.

"Everyone take out a piece of parchment, ink, a quill, and identify each of these things. There will be no talking. The first whisper I hear will earn you a detention with Filch ... for a month!"

Harry was doing fine with identifying everything until he came across some kind of mushy brown goo. He carefully picked up the container and frowned. He had absolutely no idea what it was. _'Great,'_ he thought morosely, _'Snape's gonna kill me later because I missed something.'_

After that was done and everyone had taken their seat, Snape began lecturing about the O.W.L.'s. By the end of class, he was a nervous wreck.

Yes, he knew these tests were important, but the way everyone was going on about them, you'd think it'd be the end of all tests ... never mind the fact that they still had to take the N.E.W.T.'s their seventh year.

At lunch, Susan came over and sat with him.

"How was your morning?"

"Don't ask," grumbled Harry.

"Just wait 'til your Transfiguration class. I thought I was going to have a stroke and it was only the first day of reviewing."

"The day isn't over yet," he pointed out sadly.

"Just thinking about all this reviewing gets me so excited," stated Hermione cheerfully as she sat down. She had stayed after class to ask Snape some questions.

"Here Hermione. Have a plate of food before we all kill you," chimed in Ron, shoving food in her direction.

Harry watched her glance around at everyone. "What's wrong with you all?" she asked.

"Don't answer that," piped in Ron as he glared at everyone - especially Dean who had been about to open his mouth. "Here Hermione, eat. We have Defense later."

Harry just shook his head and snickered at her confused look.

* * *

Severus was leaving his office to head to his quarters. Despite the fact he felt he could have passed out asleep on his feet, he knew he had things to do.

Entering his quarters, he headed to his library and began searching for a book. After finding it, he retreated to a chair in his sitting room.

An hour later had him scowling in defeat. Maybe he did need sleep. As he was on his way to his bedroom, he noticed that Harry's bedroom door wasn't fully closed.

When he wasn't there, the boy kept it shut. Wondering why he hadn't let him know he was present, he opened the door.

Inside, he found Harry asleep.

A smile unknowingly came to his lips.

Walking in the room, he carefully pulled Harry's Transfiguration book out of his hand. He then tucked the blanket more firmly around him.

Shaking his head, he turned to leave the room. However, a piece of paper on the desk caught his attention before he had even taken a step.

He picked it up and frowned. It was an Astronomy test with a 'T' marked on it. Why didn't Sinastra tell him about this? Why didn't Harry?

He scowled. He would ask the boy in the morning.

* * *

Harry blinked up at the ceiling. It took him a minute to realize where he was. He then groaned slightly as he stretched while glancing over at the clock.

When he saw it pointing to 'time to get up', he blinked again, this time in shock. It had been ages since he had slept an entire night without some type of potion.

As he was getting ready for the day, he grimaced when he thought about why he'd came down.

Well, there were actually two reasons. The first had been to escape Hermione and her O.W.L. studies. The second had been so Snape could go ahead and get the yelling over his Astronomy test done with.

When he left his room, he saw Snape sitting at the kitchen table. "Morning," he cautiously said.

"Morning, Potter. Sleep well?"

He nodded.

"Had I not noticed your door open last night, I wouldn't have known you were here. Why didn't you tell me?"

Harry shrugged. "I planned on it when you showed up, but I guess I fell asleep."

"Any particular reason you stayed down here?"

Harry bit his lip. "Figured you wanted to get the yelling done and over with as soon as you could since I failed my Astronomy test."

"And why would I yell at you?"

Harry squinted at Snape. "Uh, because you have every time I've not passed something?"

He watched as Snape smirked.

"True," the man said, "but until I checked on you last night and saw the test sitting on your desk, I had no idea you failed one."

Harry stared at Snape, disbelief clearly evident on his face. "You mean I could have avoided being yelled at this time? I thought all my teachers were reporting back to you?"

"Oh, they are, and I would have eventually found out about it, but as of this morning, Sinastra has not told me anything, yet."

Harry huffed.

"Why did you fail the test?"

With a grimace, he said, "I forgot about it until I walked in the classroom."

"You forgot?"

"Yeah."

"How did you forget?"

"I didn't have it written down anywhere."

"If it wasn't for the fact Quidditch has been canceled for the rest of the year, I'd withhold your flying privileges, as it is -"

"Wait! What do you mean for the rest of this year? I thought it was just one game!"

"It's for the rest of this year. It gives the Headmaster a chance to look for a new flying instructor, plus it will ensure your and everyone elses' safety."

"But ... but ..."

"Potter, Quidditch is not more important than your life."

"Argh. Fine. I'm going to breakfast." Harry then stormed out of Snape's quarters.

* * *

"You ran out of his room's? Harry ..."

"Look Hermione, I'm not in any mood to receive a lecture. I'll see you and Ron later. I have somewhere to be," he said as he stood up. He planned on spending his free period in the Room of Requirement. Besides, it gave him more time to hide from Snape. Since he _had_ stormed out of the man's rooms this morning, he hadn't been punished because of his Astronomy test, at least not yet.

"But Harry, you can use your free period to study for the O.W.L.'s."

"Yeah, well, I'm not." That said, he left the Great Hall and headed to the seventh floor.

Unfortunately, Snape wouldn't let him practice with the scales while he wasn't present, which was really annoying.

Asking the room for more targets, this time Voldemort, various Death Eaters, and a few Umbridge ones (to add color in a sea of black), he began casting various spells. This served two purposes. It helped him give vent to his frustrations and it allowed him to work on his power usage.

He was getting better at controlling it, but still needed a bit of work.

* * *

The next morning's _Daily Prophet_ held an unwelcome surprise.

Voldemort had broken open Azkaban. Again. He had freed all of the Death Eaters that had just been captured.

All day long speculative whispers ran through the classrooms and hallways.

Everyone wondered where exactly the Ministry planned on keeping the prisoners if every time someone was captured, they would just be set free again.

It was lunch time before Harry saw Susan. To his consternation, she looked like she had been crying. He immediately grabbed her hand and pulled her into the first empty room he came across.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"Susan, you look like you've been crying."

She grimaced. "Great. Hannah told me that she couldn't tell."

"Er ..."

"The prisoners released from Azkaban. My aunt told me that Dolohov was one of the ones that killed my mom and dad. He's free ... again!"

Harry had absolutely no idea what to say, so he simply pulled Susan into his arms and hugged her. He hoped it was the right thing to do because otherwise he had no idea how to deal with a crying female.

"And as if that's not bad enough, everyone keeps asking me about how I feel now that Dolohov is, once again, on the loose! I feel the same way I did the last time he was broken out of Azkaban! I feel helpless! How do you deal with everyone whispering and asking stupid questions all the time?"

Harry panicked. He had no idea what would be considered the 'right' answer.

Seamus had told him about the time him and his then girlfriend from Ravenclaw was talking about something and evidently he answered a question wrong. He was dumped on the spot plus she had slapped him across the cheek.

Knowing he could possibly end up being hit, he opted for the truth.

"After a while, you learn to ignore it. You tune out everyone but your best friends. They'll eventually leave you alone."

"But what if it's your best friend that's doing most of the asking?"

Harry flashed back to his fourth year and his fight with Ron. "It hurts but you can either hit them or ignore them."

Susan suddenly started giggling.

"What did I say?"

"Sorry. It's just that I think if I punch Hannah, she'd probably either punch me back or hex me."

"Yeah, well, I threw one of those 'Potter sucks' badges at Ron's forehead one evening. Told him that I hoped it'd give him a matching scar so he could be just like me if he wanted the attention that badly."

Susan giggled even more.

"Listen, just ignore everyone. They'll get the hint sooner or later."

She hugged him. "Thank you."

Having no idea how he helped, he just returned her hug. He was just grateful she didn't slap him.

* * *

A/N: Yikes! I had no idea how short this chapter was, and this is AFTER I added two sections to it! *accepts the flogging* The next chapter, which I just finished typing, is a lot longer than this one.

And the teenage moodiness begins to rear it's ugly head. For the most part, Harry's been able to control it, or at the very least, it's not been at the front of his mind since he's been busy doing other things, but ... well ... let's just say that it's not the first time the moodiness appears. *smirks*

I fiddled with the Susan bit for a while. Figured I'd also play around some more with Harry's inadequacies around girls. Remember, right now, he's still dealing with Voldemort and his merry band of Death Eaters to fully develop his err... hormones. My brother told me that a boy can still stumble through something blindly and still inadvertantly look sweet in the process. Thus, the comment about the fact she'd been crying, yet his honest reply to her question. He told me I done a good job in that scene. I hope so. So if it's wrong, blame him. *nods sagely*

Next update should be out in about a week or so.

I wanna thank everyone for the reviews and the likes and favoriting of the story. I may not get to reply to them all, but I promise I do read them and they really do encourage me. :)


	117. Minister Woes and Headmaster Teachings

Disclaimer: Other than owning a humongous dust bunny and a cat that I think may have been in the catnip, I don't have much of anything else, so don't sue!

* * *

Chapter 117

* * *

Thursday morning, Harry blindly stumbled into the Great Hall. Snape had kept him up until 2 a.m. working on wandless magic. He slowly made his way to the Hufflepuff table. (He and Susan alternated where they sat each day.)

"Morning, sleepy head," Susan said with a grin.

"Ugh. If I had stayed in the dorm last night, I wouldn't be here."

"Snape would probably punish you if you missed any classes without being sick," piped in Leanne, who was sitting on Susan's other side.

"I know," he muttered. It was then he glanced up toward the Head Table.

"I don't see how you can spend any extra time with him. It would seem like one continuous detention to me," stated Ernie from across the table.

If Harry had heard him, he most likely would have hexed the boy, as it was, he did not. He was still staring at the head table. Dumbledore was missing which was not a normal occurrence.

The owls then flew into the Great Hall bringing the mail as well as the morning paper. He saw Hedwig holding the _Daily Prophet_ in her talons. Harry took it from her but before he could offer her a piece of his bacon, she stole it from his plate. She also ate the piece that Susan had offered.

Harry gasped the same time as most of the students in the Great Hall did. The headline certainly explained why Dumbledore was absent.

Evidently, late last night, the Minister had been assassinated. According to the paper, as of press time, the Wizengamot was currently trying to obtain some order in the Ministry.

"I wonder if my Aunt is in the running for Minister or if she's hiding underneath her desk?"

"Does she want to be Minister?" asked Harry curiously as he continued to read the article.

"She's been approached a couple of times but she prefers being the head of the Department of Law Enforcement."

"As long as they pick someone better than Scrimgeour, I don't care who it is," commented Justin from a couple seats down.

"That won't be hard," grumbled Harry to himself.

"Reckon You-Know-Who is behind this?" asked Hannah.

Harry grimaced. "Probably." He closed his eyes to check his occlumency shields and saw that they were fine. He didn't feel any thing that he could recall but then again, he hadn't slept very long either.

Ten minutes later, he said bye to Susan and headed to where Ron, Hermione, and Neville were walking toward the History of Magic classroom.

* * *

The evening _Prophet_ declared that Kingsley Shacklebolt had been named as Minister for Magic. Harry remembered the man because he had been the one to take the report about Umbridge's blood quill. He also thought that he was a member of the Order, though he couldn't remember ever seeing him at Grimmauld Place.

Dumbledore was present at dinner. He thought the Headmaster looked younger. Hopefully that boded well for the new Ministry.

"Are you hiding tonight?" whispered Susan.

Harry shook his head. "Hermione will hunt me down and practice on me if I do."

"Can I join your all's study session?" asked Hannah.

Since she and Susan didn't appear to be fighting anymore, he figured it was okay.

Harry shrugged. "Sure. Hermione runs it. Be in the library by eight. I think tonight is mainly Herbology."

After they ate, Harry and Susan headed out to the lake. They talked for a while about what the _Prophet_ had reported about the new Minister. Discussion then turned to how everyone was still pestering her about her family. Thankfully, she didn't cry this time. Eventually they plopped down against a tree.

He warily cast a couple warming charms over both of them.

"It's nice out here," she said as she laid her head on his shoulder.

He put his arm around her. "It is."

"You know we're going to have to go inside in the next few minutes, right?"

Harry sighed. "I know. Personally, I'd like nothing more than to go to sleep. I fell asleep in Binns and Sinastra's class earlier today. I can only imagine the lecture _that's_ gonna produce from Snape when he finds out."

"Have you asked your teachers not to report to him?"

"Yeah, but he overrode my request. McGonagall told me that whenever the staff had children currently attending the school that it was something most have to put up with."

"That sucks."

Harry chuckled bitterly. "Yeah. It does."

A few minutes had passed in comfortable silence when Harry asked, "Why do you like me?"

She looked up at him. "Excuse me?"

"Why do you like me? I'm nothing but a magnet for danger."

"Where is this coming from?"

"It's just something I've been curious about ever since the Hogsmeade battle."

"Harry," she said as she pulled away and turned to face him, "I like you because of how kind you are and who you are as a person. I don't care about the danger that comes with you. You're nice, you're smart, and you're cute."

Harry flushed. "I'm not all that smart and I definitely ain't cute. I think you need your eyes checked."

Susan giggled. "Oh, Harry, you're clueless. That also makes you cute."

Even though it seemed impossible, he felt his face heat even more. She then slowly leaned in and fully kissed him on the lips.

At first Harry didn't respond, mostly out of shock, but then he did. When they finally pulled away, they were both gasping for air. He noted that Susan was flushed, too.

A quick _'tempus'_ showed that it was 8:15, so they gathered their things and headed back to the castle. Both were grinning like idiots and neither one cared about the fact that Hermione was going to yell at them for being late.

* * *

Harry was sitting in the warded dungeon classroom on Saturday waiting for Dumbledore. When he had arrived, there had been a book on Elemental Magic for Beginners waiting for him, so he had started to read.

As he was getting ready to start the fourth chapter, the Headmaster came in the room.

"Sorry I'm late, my dear boy."

"It's all right, sir. I've been reading."

"Excellent. Before we start, I need to ask you some questions."

Harry put the book down and nodded.

"First things first, how are you doing with your new wand?"

Harry smiled slightly. "A lot better. Though I am still annoyed you kept the scales from me."

"'Tis better to learn without them."

"I know. Snape tested me on them last night. He said he doubted I'd need them anymore."

"Good. Now, where did you originally learn about Elemental Magic from?"

"The ... library. Both of them actually. Plus Neville got me a book on Ancient Defensive Theory and there was a chapter on Elemental Magic and how it could be used defensively. I ... uh ... just thought they were normal spells, not anything special."

The Headmaster's lips twitched slightly. "What all can you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"What various elements have you tried to control?"

Harry frowned. "Fire, water, air ... I also made that dust storm in Hogsmeade, but I guess that's considered air ..."

Dumbledore's lips twitched again. "The basic elements are air, fire, water, earth, and spirit. Although, throughout history, some people have included metal and wood as well. My next question for you is what is the difference between a normal spell ... let's say _Aguamenti_ and a water elemental spell?"

Harry frowned. To be honest that was one of his questions for Dumbledore.

"I don't know," he eventually whispered.

"Harry, look at me. Why did you look away when you answered?"

"I didn't want to see your disappointment when I didn't know the answer."

"Oh, Harry. You can't disappoint me. I would have been surprised had you actually known the answer, but you can't disappoint me by admitting that you don't know something. I think it takes courage to admit when you lack the knowledge in something."

Harry shifted in his seat but nodded that he understood.

"Now, most of your classmates have no trouble with spells that involve water, for instance, but I doubt any, with maybe the exception of one or two later in life, would show any talent at manipulating it."

"You mean like changing it to ice?"

"I mean like this."

Harry watched with fascination as Dumbledore conjured a glass of water and then proceeded to play with the water. He watched as the liquid turned into a ball, a house, a flower, a broomstick, and even to his amusement - an identical copy of himself.

"That was brilliant, sir, but uh, weren't you just transfiguring the water into different shapes?"

"If I was then it wouldn't have held the shape as if the liquid was actually a solid. And I wasn't using any charms either, for the same reason."

"Well, it was still brilliant."

Dumbledore laughed.

Harry didn't get back to Snape's quarters until almost 11 p.m.

The Headmaster had given him a couple things to practice on and told him to finish reading the book he had started before the lesson. As he was leaving the classroom, he had also told him that every Saturday he'd teach him what he could and that every Sunday, starting the next afternoon, various Order members were going to teach him different styles of battle magics.

With a sigh of exhaustion, he sat down in the tub. He wished he could share what he was learning with Ron and Hermione but Dumbledore had made him promise not to say anything.

It was after midnight before he finally fell asleep. He was completely oblivious to the fact that Snape had tucked him in again.

* * *

"Where are you going?" demanded Hermione.

Harry finished chewing the last bite of food he had put in his mouth. He then absent mindedly took a drink from the glass Susan, who was sitting on his left, had handed him.

"Thanks," he said to her. "Snape wants me for something."

"But why? Doesn't he know that studying for our O.W.L.'s are important?"

"I'm sure he does, but it still doesn't change the fact that I'll be spending most of the day with him."

"Most of the day?" she screeched. "But think of all the studying you could get done!"

"Is he gonna feed you dinner?" interrupted Ron.

"Most likely. He also wants me to stay down there tonight."

"Well, I don't know what could possibly be more important than studying."

"That's because you don't know everything, Ms. Granger," said a voice in a near silent whisper behind her.

Harry sighed. He had tried to interrupt her to tell her that Snape was walking in their direction but couldn't get a word in during her rant.

"Sir, you're cutting into his O.W.L. study times. He's going to fail if he doesn't study according to my schedule."

"I can assure you, Ms. Granger, that he will study -"

"But not enough, sir."

"Five points from Gryffindor for interrupting me. Come on, Potter."

Harry sighed. Hermione looked on the verge of tears at having lost Gryffindor points. "I'll see you guys later."

As he followed Snape, he glared at him. "There wasn't any reason to take points."

"But taking points from Gryffindor is fun. Besides, she should learn not to question me. Frankly, I don't see why she's so worried. She has a photographic memory."

Harry glared even harder at Snape as they descended yet another set of stairs. He wasn't going to give the man ammunition to use against his best friend.

When they walked into the warded classroom, to his surprise, Moody was standing there.

"I have things to do. If you're not finished by dinner, call that hyper active elf of yours."

"Yes, sir."

Harry watched as Snape shut the door. He then turned toward Moody.

"First things first, I need to see what you can do. We're gonna duel. None of that mamby-pamby one at a time spell casting either."

Before Harry could even draw his wand, he found himself stunned.

"Lesson number one, always keep your wand at the ready."

Pulling his wand as he stood up, he nodded. From the way Moody was smirking, he had most likely waited a while before _ennervating_ him.

"_Expelliarmus_," called out Harry.

"_Reducto_," Moody said lazily.

"_Incarcerous_."

"_Conscrescere_."

"_Protego_," Harry said - too late. He also discovered what the unknown curse did. It literally froze him.

"Again," called out Moody a few minutes later.

This time, he lasted a grand total of seven minutes before he was stunned by his own stunner which had reflected off of one of Moody's personal shields.

"All right. Have a seat, Potter."

Harry sat down and took a sip from the offered pepper-up potion.

"Dumbledore showed me the memory of your time in Voldemort's stronghold. You done fairly well against the Death Eaters. Tonks showed me the memory of the Hogsmeade battle. You done well then, too. I even saw a portion of the battle between you and old snake-face. You were holding your own. So my question is, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Harry choked. "Excuse me?"

"You're barely putting up a fight. How can I fully train you if you don't fight back?"

"I am fighting back," came his immediate protest.

"Not with everything you have."

"Oh. No."

"Why in the blazes not, boy?"

"Because I might accidentally hurt you."

"Oh dear sweet Merlin. Albus warned me of this but I thought he was joking. Potter, all of the Order has been briefed on how powerful you really are. Those of us that offered to teach you know what we're getting into."

"What do you mean Dumbledore told you how powerful I am?" he asked as he stood up, knocking the chair away in the process.

"He had to."

"Argh! I don't want anyone to know!"

"I happen to agree with you. The less your enemy knows, the better, but in this case, he had to share. If it makes you feel any better, we all took oaths on our magic to never inform anyone else."

He groaned.

Two hours later had Harry calling Dobby.

"Hi, Harry Potter, sir."

"Hey Dobby. Can you bring us some food and a few more bandages?"

Dobby opted a scandalized expression as he took in the cut on Harry's face.

He popped back in the room five minutes later.

"I guess I need to learn some healing magic," he muttered as he held the bandage to his face.

"I think that's one of the lessons Tonks is having with you."

Moody no doubt saw the look of horror on his face and laughed. "She's actually quite decent at it. Not perfect, mind you, but in a pinch, she does an okay job."

About halfway through the meal, Harry asked, "Can you show me how to put up a personal shield? I've read a couple of books that explained it, but I've not been able to actually do it."

"I wondered why you didn't have one up. After we eat, I'll go over each type and how to do them."

"Thanks," he said with a grin.

The laugh Harry received didn't ease his mind any. "Don't thank me yet, sonny."

Moody saying that didn't help any either.

* * *

Around 11 p.m., Snape eased into the room to watch Moody and Harry's lesson. He silently stayed in the corner.

He watched as Moody tried to help his son with personal shields, but every one of them crumbled.

"You need to practice, practice, practice, and then practice more, Potter."

Harry groaned. "I will."

"Here, let me heal your wounds. We're done for the night."

He saw Harry flash an incredulous look at Moody. "If you could heal wounds all along, why did you make me use bandages earlier to stop the bleeding?"

"Wanted to see what you could do. Tonks is scheduled for next week. Remember to practice those personal shields."

Harry still had a scowl on his face as he nodded at Moody.

Severus stalked over to Harry and frowned down at him. "How much blood did you lose?"

"It was just a few cuts and scratches. I'm fine. Just annoyed. I'm going to take a shower and go to sleep. I'm tired."

"Do you need a pain reliever?"

Harry opened the classroom door. "No. I'm just sore because I found muscles I didn't know I had today. It's nothing sleep can't cure."

As they entered their quarters, Severus asked, "Why are you having trouble maintaining a personal shield?"

Harry laughed bitterly as he headed to his room. "I'm not having trouble maintaining it. I'm having trouble putting one up."

Severus raised his brow as Harry disappeared into his bedroom.

* * *

A/N: You know, printed out, this is about 3 pages longer than the previous chapter, but when I compare them to the words listed, it's not that much longer. *shakes fist*

Anyway, had a review a while ago from someone that wanted to know when Harry and Susan were gonna kiss, at least more so than pecks on the cheeks, so there ya go! *points*

So ... any bets on how long Kingsley lasts as current minister? ;)

Anyway, Dumbledore and the Order has started training Harry now, something I felt should have always been done. And look, Moody lectured Harry about using his full power! I figured if anyone would get through to him, it would be Mad-Eye. bwahaha

I hope that I explained how elemental magic is different than normal magic alright.

Up next, Harry ends up in the hospital wing ... again. Plus, lots more studying for the O.W.L.'s and Harry and Susan have a nice little ... scene. *snickers and flees with own Death Eaters robes and masks*

*Pops head back around the corner* Thanks to everyone that left reviews. It always brightens my day when I see that one was left. *leaves out cupcakes and flees again*


	118. Variations of Sleep

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything! *pouts*

* * *

Chapter 118

* * *

Harry was currently in the library reviewing for the O.W.L.'s. Tonight was an Ancient Runes night, so there weren't as many people around. As he moved to his third piece of parchment of notes, he audibly sighed.

He then glanced up to make sure Hermione didn't hear him. She and Padma (Parvati's twin that was placed in Ravenclaw, despite her sister going to Gryffindor) got into an argument over who should run the review session for Ancient Runes. Hermione out argued her, causing Padma to storm off. Her parting shot was that she'd rather review alone that with a "snobbish bossy know-it-all". Thus, Hermione was _really_ not in the mood for interruptions.

"Problems, Harry?" whispered Lavender.

He risked a glance at Hermione then whispered back, "No. Just tired."

Tired was an understatement. He was exhausted. He'd been spending some time each night trying to do the spells Dumbledore had been teaching him. He found he could manipulate water fairly easy, even holding it in the shape of a ball for about ten minutes - in which point in time it would proceed to drench him. He also discovered that no amount of practicing could allow him to put up a personal shield.

That was also driving him nuts.

"Potter?"

He glanced up and saw Snape looking at him. "Huh?"

"I need you to come with me. Gather your stuff. You won't be returning."

He nodded. As he was putting his books in his bag, he risked a glance at Hermione. She was fuming mad, but thankfully, she held her temper. As he left the table, he heard her let out an irritated huff. He looked at Snape. "At least you didn't take points this time."

"That's because she held her tongue."

He merely rolled his eyes. No doubt he'd hear about this from his friend later.

Once they entered Snape's rooms, Harry immediately headed to the couch, but before he could put his book bag down, he felt his mind invaded, harshly. He struggled to keep his shields up. He felt more intense pressure as it tried to break down his shields. So, he shoved.

The next thing he realized was that he was seeing his dad and Sirius hexing Snape. He immediately pulled back in horror.

"Well, that was interesting," said Snape blandly. "How much of that did you see? I couldn't tell."

Harry felt like he'd been running a marathon. He glanced up at Snape out of the corner of his eye. He grimaced. "I saw my dad and Sirius hex you before I panicked and pulled out."

"How did you toss me out?"

"I felt my shield beginning to crumble ... so I, uh, called out '_protego_' in my head."

"An effective way to evict me from your mind."

"I always knew the Headmaster was being gentle when he checked my shields. That actually hurt."

Snape nodded. "That's only a fraction of what the Dark Lord would do to you."

He grimaced as another shot of pain seared through his head. "The pain felt similar yet different from when Voldemort possessed me."

"Take a minute and prepare yourself."

Harry nodded.

They tested his shields for nearly three hours.

"I could tell you were getting weaker at the end but the fact that I couldn't actually breach your shields is a good thing. Make sure you take this tonight," Snape said at the end of their lesson as he handed over a small vial of Dreamless Sleep.

"Can I stay down here tonight? I'm tired and I'm not entirely sure I'll make it to the tower in one piece."

"You may. I'll see you in the morning."

Harry nodded and headed in the direction of his bedroom.

* * *

The next morning, Harry sighed at the _Daily Prophet_. Attacks from Voldemort were happening several times a day. It wasn't unusual to see students being led out by their Heads of Houses when an attack had happened on a students' family.

He felt a gush of air causing him to look up. Susan plopped down next to him. He smiled at her. "Oversleep?"

"Yes. Hannah didn't make sure I was up." She took a quick bite of toast. "Listen. I feel like I have to schedule 'us' time. Think you can squeeze in a couple of hours this evening?"

Harry appeared to think about it, so she poked him in the side.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "Yeah. Tonight is an Arithmancy night, so I'm free."

"Harry, you should use tonight to study. You're not logging in nearly enough hours to pass your O.W.L.'s," Hermione said with a glare. "Especially since Professor Snape keeps interrupting our study groups."

Harry bit back the sigh that almost escaped. "Hermione, I need a night off. I'm not studying tonight. Trust me, those nights that Snape rescues me from the study groups, I'm not slacking off. He doesn't let me."

"_Rescues _you?" she asked with her eyes narrowed.

"Poor choice of words," he said quickly.

Susan giggled quietly as she got back up from the table. "I'll see you tonight then. I have to run. I have a paper to look over before class."

Harry watched her walk away with a small smile on his face.

* * *

After dinner that evening, Harry and Susan headed to an abandoned classroom they had found on the fourth floor one evening. She transfigured the chair into a large couch and Harry charmed it to be more squashy.

"Privacy charms?"

She nodded. "I wasn't kidding this morning about having to schedule time with you."

He laughed but cast the few privacy spells he knew. He then pulled her down on the transfigured couch.

Harry laid on his side, as did Susan - with her back to him. They never did anything beyond kiss but during those times they did escape to this room, this was the position they assumed. As Harry wrapped his arm around her waist, he whispered, "So, what's the topic today?"

"You pick," she said as she grabbed his hand.

"Tell me about your childhood. Not about your parents' death," he added quickly - thinking how he didn't want her to hit him. Thankfully most everyone was finally starting to leave her alone about the subject.

She chuckled, no doubt at his quick speech. "For the most part, it was fairly boring."

"I want to hear about it anyway."

"Well, since my parents were killed not too long after I was born, I was raised by my Aunt. It was a fairly normal childhood. I don't know what else you want to know."

"When did your Aunt realize you were a witch?"

"Hmm. I performed my first bit of accidental magic when I was five. My cousin and I were playing a game and she jumped out to scare me. I accidently set her hair on fire."

"Was she okay?"

Susan laughed. "Yeah, but she still won't talk to me."

"Is your cousin here at Hogwarts?"

"Oh, no. She thinks we're nothing but a bunch of barbarians. She goes to the Salem Institute in the United States."

"Ahh."

She turned over on the couch to where they were facing each other. As she moved her red hair out of her eyes, she asked, "Do you know how old you were when you performed magic the first time?"

"Remus told me I was four months old."

Susan's hand, which was still fiddling with her hair, stilled. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Remus said that I summoned my bottle to me."

"Harry," Susan said slowly, "that's not something I would tell everyone. I promise I won't mention it but that's not a normal thing. Magic generally manifests in children around age two or three."

He sighed. "Great. Another thing that makes me a freak."

"You're not a freak, Harry," she said as she pinched him.

They laid in silence for several minutes when Susan spoke again. "You're on par, magic wise, with Dumbledore and You-Know-Who aren't you?"

He tentatively nodded. "Please don't tell anyone. Not even Ron, Hermione, and Neville know."

"Surely they suspect ..."

"I think Hermione has for a while but she's never confronted me about it."

"I swear on my magic that I'll never tell anyone through any means."

Harry nodded. "Tell me more about you as you grew up."

"What else did you want to know?"

"What type of games did you play?"

"My aunt wanted me aware of the muggle world but I mostly played wizarding games. Muggle electronics don't work in a wizarding home, so I never watched a telly or anything."

"I never really understood that."

"As the magic in a house rises, muggle appliances go on the fritz. Hannah says her family has to buy a telly about every four months."

"That makes sense, I suppose."

Harry closed his eyes as he listened to her describe the first time she got on a broom.

The next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes to see Susan asleep. They weren't touching on the couch (she transfigured it to be wide) but they had fallen asleep looking at each other.

He slowly rubbed his eyes and gingerly sat up. He then quietly cast, "_tempus_".

5:42 a.m.

"Holy crap! Susan. Wake up. It's nearly six in the morning."

She swiftly sat up. So quickly that she fell off the edge of the couch.

He helped her up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm awake now. Ugh. Okay. I'm awake."

"You need to get back to the dorm. I'll see you at breakfast."

She nodded and swiftly headed to her dorm. Harry then disillusioned himself and headed to the tower.

Unfortunately, Neville caught him coming into the common room. (He canceled the spell when he arrived at the portrait.)

"Aren't those the same clothes you wore yesterday?"

"No," he denied quickly.

Neville laughed. "You're a horrible liar," he said as he climbed through the portrait hole.

Harry rolled his eyes as he rushed up the stairs to the dorm room.

He still didn't make it to breakfast so he resigned himself to getting yelled at by Snape later.

During dinner, Ron asked Harry if he could borrow the new Quidditch magazine that Harry subscribed to.

"It's in my bedroom in Snape's quarter's."

"Er. Never mind. I can wait."

Harry laughed. "I can run down and get it before Hermione's study group." He swallowed some pumpkin juice as he stood. "I'll be back."

Ron nodded then went back to his food.

Harry hurried down to the dungeon. It was as he descended the set of stairs that led to Snape's quarters he realized he was being followed. He took about five steps down the hallway and turn around - just in time to see some kind of spell shoot at him.

He immediately felt welts rise on his skin.

"_Protego_,"he called out. He couldn't see who it was but did see their magical signature. After he deflected three more curses, he shouted, "_incarcerous"_.

He dodged another double stunner the person sent at him after his attacker had evaded the flying ropes.

Harry ducked as a cutting curse whipped over his head.

Unfortunately, a minute later, another cutting curse had caught part of his arm.

The fight was nearing ten minutes when the attackers invisibility wore off. He recognized the boy as a seventh year Slytherin but he wasn't sure of his name. One thing was for sure though, he was fast.

Harry ducked another curse but bit back the scream as he was unable to avoid the second one that came immediately after.

He hadn't wanted to hurt him - just neutralize him - but clearly the Slytherin didn't have the same compassion.

"_Aguamenti. Glaciare_," Harry called out in quick succession a couple minutes later.

He watched the Slytherin slide and fall on the ice. He took his chance to neutralize his attacker then. "_Stupefy._"

Finally, the boy was stunned. He eyed his arm. He was bleeding pretty heavily and he was slightly dizzy. The pain on his side and stomach told him that the welts were still there.

He idly wondered if the hallway was supposed to be spinning. He instinctively grabbed the necklace Snape had given him. His last subconscious thought was 'dad'.

* * *

Severus was conversing with Pomona about some ingredients he needed when he felt his blood chill.

"Harry," he muttered. He took off at a run toward the dungeons. He didn't know where he was going so he let instinct take over. When he went down the steps that led to the corridor his quarters were on, he nearly stopped dead with what he saw.

Harry was laying on the stone floor, blood pooling around him. He steadied his hand as he felt for a pulse. Thankfully it was strong.

Pomona was about ten steps behind him.

"Dear sweet Merlin!" She immediately went to check on the Slytherin student.

Severus quickly closed the two cuts he found. Harry's shirt had ridden up and from what he could see, he had weeping welts over his stomach. He quickly sent his patronus to Albus. Hopefully the man wasn't still at dinner.

"Come on, Harry. Wake up," Severus said softly as he tapped his son's face.

"Mr. Vaisey is just stunned. Do you want me to revive him?"

"Severus, Pomona, what's going on?" Albus asked as he came down a set of stairs. Minerva and Filius were behind him.

"I found them like this. Harry needs to be taken to the hospital wing."

Twenty minutes later found Severus sitting at Harry's bedside, waiting on his son to wake up. He had gotten the story from his Slytherin student. He left Albus to deal with the boys punishment. He merely wanted to strangle him - regardless of his age.

Another hour had passed when Granger, Weasley, Longbottom, and Bones came in the infirmary.

"Professor Snape? How's Harry?"

"Still unconscious."

"Why was he attacked?" asked Ms. Bones.

"I can't discuss that with students. If he wants to tell you when he wakes, he can."

"Do you mind if we stay until curfew?" asked Weasley.

Severus conjured three chairs after he stood. "Go ahead. I'll be back in a bit." He then strode to Poppy's office.

"He's fine Severus. When he fell, he hit his head fairly hard against the wall. That's why he's still unconscious."

"So you've told me four times. I actually need to borrow your Henton book."

She went to the bookshelf and pulled it down.

He nodded his thanks and swept out of the room.

By the time he returned to Harry's bedside, Remus was present.

"Has he woken up yet?"

"He did briefly but before he could say much of anything, he went back to sleep."

Severus sighed.

"Albus told me why Vaisey attacked him. When Harry learns the truth, he's going to blame himself."

"I know. I'm tempted not to tell him," admitted Severus quietly.

"Then I'll be mad," muttered a croaky voice. "Water."

Severus quickly poured him a glass while Remus helped him set up in the bed.

After he took several drinks, he grimaced. "My head feels like someone took a bludger bat to it ... several times."

Severus immediately reached into his robes and pulled out a moderate pain reliever.

Harry only drank half of it.

"I'll drink the rest when you tell me why I was attacked."

Remus snickered. "Your Slytherin side is showing again."

Harry grimaced and fought back a yawn.

"You were attacked because the boy's father was one of the Auror's killed last Hogsmeade weekend. He blamed you because you didn't show yourself sooner."

Severus saw Harry blank his face.

"Harry, don't bury your emotions," he said with a growl.

His son downed the rest of the pain potion, muttered he was going back to sleep and laid back down.

"Well that went well," he said sarcastically.

Remus brushed Harry's fringe out of his eyes. "I think he'll be fine as long as he talks through it."

"Getting him to talk is going to be the hard part," he admitted.

"If you two promise to let me sleep, I promise I'll talk tomorrow. My head is killing me."

Severus bit back the chuckle that threatened to escape.

* * *

Harry wasn't released from the hospital wing until Friday afternoon. He sighed as he realized he was going to have to talk to Snape that evening. Maybe if he _would_ have shown himself earlier then the boy would still have his father.

He idly wondered if the Slytherin was punished but put it out of his mind. He needed to get to what was left of Hagrid's class. To his surprise, he found Hagrid talking about Thestral's. It turned out to be a good class.

Sadly, potions turned out to be a nightmare. Snape was reviewing things and Harry found he couldn't answer anything. His headache had returned but he didn't want to ask Snape for another potion because then the man might cancel the lesson on wandless magic. Maybe Madam Pomphrey would help him.

After class, he headed to the hospital wing.

"Potter? What's wrong?"

"My headache is back. I was wondering if you could give me anything for it?"

"Why not ask your father?"

"I didn't want him to know," he admitted.

She quickly scanned him. "Everything seems fine. It might be more of a residual pain. If this hasn't kicked in by the end of dinner, come back to see me."

Harry drank the potion and shivered in disgust at the taste. "Yes ma'am."

Thankfully, by the end of dinner, his headache was completely gone.

"I'll see you guys later."

"Again? Harry, Snape is taking over all of your free time," protested Ron.

Harry shrugged. "Not much I can do about it. Unless _you_ want to tell him that."

Ron made a face, though whether it was from his suggestion or the fact that he had kissed Susan, he didn't know. He then headed to the dungeons.

Surprisingly, Snape didn't lecture him about class. Instead they headed to the warded classroom to work on wandless magic.

It was nearly two in the morning before he got to bed that night.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about longer than a week passing by. I got side-tracked into writing and forgot to post. o.O

So ... who thinks the O.W.L.'s are getting to Hermione? hehe

I'm not gonna say anything about the Susan and Harry scene. I have another scene later on that plays off of this one. Let's just say that involves Harry nearly giving Snape a heart attack. bwahahaha

As for the attack scene, the reason Harry got hurt so badly is that he really didn't want to hurt the Slytherin student and the hallways aren't exactly the best place to duel someone because there are things that can fall off the wall or off of statue stands, which could hurt either pretty badly.

And yes, Ron is right, Snape is taking up a lot of Harry's free time. I've got a scene later on where Dumbledore and Snape talk about that.

Yet again, Harry learns something else about himself that sets him apart from the wizarding masses by performing magic at such a young age.

As for the mention that Susan has red hair. I know a lot of people (J.K. might have commented on it too, but I can't remember off the top of my head) talk about how Harry has a thing for red heads. If you'll remember, Gabriella had black hair. The fact that Susan had red hair is just a coincidence. I was looking some information up about her and realized that she had red hair. I just thought it was an amusing fact, so it got put in. hehe (Yes, I am amused very easily.)

Up next, a scene I enjoyed writing for Hagrid's class, plus Harry gets more training by the Order. Also got a Founders Library trip planned too.

Oh, and bookivore, I agree about the conjured book thing. It's my belief that unless a person knows a book well, they can't conjure it. :)

*lures out reviewers with shiny objects* :)


	119. Hagrid's Surprise

Disclaimer: All the usual one's apply! :)

* * *

Chapter 119

* * *

Harry grinned as he wandlessly summoned the book he had placed from across the room. He was getting much better at it. He then eyed the book in his hand. It was another elemental book that Dumbledore had told him to read this past Saturday.

It was currently Wednesday. He was going to use his free period to read what he could. He closed the curtain surrounding his bed so he wouldn't be bothered, though he doubted he would be. The rest of his dorm mates had class at the moment. (Ron was in divination.)

He had made it through four chapters when his wand warmed against his arm. He stowed the book away in his trunk and headed off to class.

* * *

Defense turned out to be exciting. Remus had turned that days reviewing into a fun exercise. He had gotten full marks.

As Harry and Susan got ready to leave and head to lunch, Remus called out to him. He told Susan he'd catch her later.

"Let's have lunch in my office."

"Sure."

As they ate, Lupin asked, "So how are all the extra lessons going?"

"Okay."

"Tonks told me you done fairly well as she taught you a little bit of healing magic this past weekend."

Harry laughed. "Did she also tell you I accidentally caused her skin to turn orange?"

"She might have mentioned you mispronounced the spell. She did say that she enjoyed dueling with you."

Harry smiled. "That _was_ fun. Though, with her being a metamorphmagus, she managed to distract me several times - at least until I was able to ignore her neon green hair and her pig snout."

Remus peered at him. "She also mentioned your lack of a personal shield. Do you know what the trouble is?"

Harry shrugged as he finished off his sandwich.

"Let me know if you have any questions. Do you know who is teaching you this upcoming Saturday?"

"She didn't know. Are they still having the Hogsmeade visit this weekend?"

"Yes. Security is being quadrupled to protect everyone."

"I'm still not going. Maybe if I'm not there, Voldemort will stay away."

"Harry, it could do you some good to go. You could obtain some measure of peace."

He shook his head. "No. I might consider it next month, but not this month."

"Very well. How are you and Severus getting along?"

After taking a drink of his pumpkin juice, he shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

"Just okay? Is something wrong?"

"No," he answered quickly. He then sighed. "It's just he's always after me to do better, grade wise, and I try and he still yells at me. Anytime I get something other than an 'E' or an 'O' on a paper, I take it to him in order for him to get the yelling over with."

"Harry, he just wants you to do your best."

"He wants perfection and I'm not perfect. I missed one question on a review paper the other day in potions and he yelled at me for at least an hour."

Lupin frowned. "That might be because it's what he teaches, but if you want, I can talk to him about it."

"No. That will make it worse." Harry glanced at the clock. "I need to go get my afternoon books. Thanks for lunch." He then headed up to the dorm.

* * *

"Everyone gather 'round. I have a real treat for you today."

Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione. The last time Hagrid had said that, he'd introduced the class to his mani-squids.

"Harry, I'm gonna need your assistance before I take the lid off."

Harry gulped but edged forward. From the corner of his eye, he saw that even the Slytherin's were throwing him sympathetic looks.

Hagrid leaned down to whisper in his ear. "I need you to speak to 'em. Tell 'em not to bite anyone."

"Hagrid, what exactly am I going to be talking to?" he slowly asked.

He lowered his voice even more and said, "a Runespoor."

The entire class, Gryffindor _and_ Slytherin, took about five steps back when Harry's face drained of color.

"Leave the lid on until I make sure it won't attack." He sighed. While he didn't mind the parseltongue ability anymore, especially after conversing with the ghost of Slytherin, he was annoyed at being put on the spot.

He gently knelt down beside the box. "_Hello_," he hissed.

From his peripheral vision, he saw everyone jump in surprise at hearing the serpent language.

"_A speaker!_" came the sounds of three heads speaking at once.

"_If I remove the lid, will you promise not to bite anyone?_" He knew from his Care of Magical Creatures textbook that the right head was poisonous.

"_If you can get us some of those eggs the big man has been feeding us, we won't bite anyone._"

"Hagrid, do you still have some of the eggs you've been feeding them?"

Hagrid looked at him funny, so he asked the question again.

"Harry, you're still speaking in parseltongue," chimed in Hermione while giggling.

He closed his eyes and focused on the words in English. He then asked the question one more time.

Hagrid went over next to his hut and came back with a crate full of eggs.

"_I'm going to remove the lid. I have the eggs. Please do not bite me or anyone else._"

The class watched in fascination as Harry removed the lid, placed three eggs in the box, then gently pulled out the three headed Runespoor after they had swallowed them.

"Harry, those are poisonous," Ron said nervously.

The Slytherins backed up another five steps.

He ignored Ron for the moment. "_What's your name?_"

"_Cisteria,_" they hissed back.

"Cisteria promised not to attack," he said.

"Excellent. Now Runespoor's have three heads, though that's kinda rare. Normally the left and middle head get annoyed and bite the right head off."

Hagrid glanced down at the snake that was hissing wildly at Harry. "Now, let's see. The left head is the planner. The middle head is the dreamer. And the right head is the critic. The right head is also the poisonous one."

Harry unwound the snake and set it on the ground. He was desperately fighting back his laughter at the conversations it was having. The snake was pleased it had someone that could understand it and talk to it.

He also listened to Hagrid's lesson. It was another enjoyable class. Plus, he learned more about the Runespoor than even the text book mentioned.

Near the end of class, Hagrid had Harry ask the snake if it minded being touched.

"_The big man smells of animals and feeds us and keeps us warm. He may handle us without fear. You can speak, so you may also handle us. We won't bite anyone unless we feel threatened._"

Harry looked around. "Uh, they said you and I can safely handle them. They also said they wouldn't bite anyone unless they feel threatened. I'd say it's safe to show them to the other classes but don't let anyone touch them."

A couple Slytherin students' laughed. So did Hagrid.

"In English, Harry."

He groaned and repeated the message in English.

At the end of class, Harry promised to visit the snake later.

As everyone headed to potions, Hermione was muttering about dangerous animals, despite actually learning something. Lavender was talking to Parvati about how Snakes were gross. The rest of the Gryffindor boys, except Ron, were talking about how cool it would be to talk to snakes.

Ron looked at Harry and rolled his eyes. They both clearly remembered his second year.

As they entered the classroom, Ron leaned over and whispered, "the Slytherin's are being rather quiet about the whole thing."

Harry snickered. "Noticed that too, huh?"

Snape strode into the room then so they immediately stopped talking.

* * *

Harry was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace in Snape's rooms looking over his Ancient Runes assignment. Snape had mentioned to him earlier that they would be working on a few things this evening.

As it was, Snape was late, so Harry assumed the man had assigned someone detention.

It was nearly 9 p.m. before Snape had entered his quarter's.

"Why aren't you in the practice room?"

"I had homework to finish."

Snape nodded. "Head onto the classroom. I will join you momentarily."

When he entered the room, he saw several targets set up. He frowned. When Snape arrived, he asked what they were going to work on?

"During the Hogsmeade battle, you mentioned you felt yourself growing weaker as you cast because you weren't used to casting with your full power constantly. I figured we'd take a small break from the wandless magic to work on this instead."

He nodded and listened to the instructions he was given.

Around midnight, they had taken a small break.

As Harry downed his third cup of water in as many minutes, he eyed Snape from the corner of his eye. He then plopped down in a chair.

"Is it true that magic shows up in someone when they're two or three years old?"

Evidently his question had caught Snape off guard. "Excuse me?"

"Is it true that magic in someone shows up when they're around two or three years old?"

"Generally, yes, though it can be later."

"How old were you?"

"I was two and a half years old."

"Do you know how old mom was?" he asked curiously.

"She was two weeks shy of her fourth birthday."

Harry thought about that for a moment. "Then how is it possible that I summoned my bottle when I was four months old?"

He watched as Snape sat down. "Why are you asking about this?"

"Susan and I were talking and I didn't realize that being able to use magic that young was abnormal, so I told her. She told me that I probably shouldn't go around telling people that."

"You shouldn't. And how did you _not_ know that?"

"Why _would_ I? It's not exactly something that's ever came up in normal conversation with Ron or Hermione. When Remus told me, he never mentioned how that made me a freak, not even when he told me about how I changed Dumbledores' and Sirius' hair different colors."

"Harry, you are _not_ a freak!" Snape said harshly.

Harry merely shrugged. He then squinted at Snape. "I can tell you are powerful, kinda like Dumbledore."

Harry then poured himself another small cup of water, therefore he missed Snape giving him a disbelieving look.

"I am not on the Headmaster's level. I am no where close to the Headmaster's power level."

Harry squinted at him again.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Just trying out something I read about. Anyway, I'm ready whenever you are."

He saw Snape scowl but nod.

He had been trying to figure out how he had as much power as he did, but since he had no way to look at his mom, it was useless to worry about it.

Two hours later, Harry blindly stumbled into his bedroom. He was exhausted.

Without even bothering to get undressed, he collapsed head first into his bed. As he drifted off to sleep, he idly thought that maybe he should just move down here. As it was, he slept down here at least four nights a week.

* * *

"Harry, are you sure you won't go to Hogsmeade?"

"I'm sure. Have fun guys. I'll see you later."

He watched his friends head down to the village. He then went in search of his girlfriend. He found her yelling at Zachariah Smith. He stood back to let her finish.

When she saw him, she stormed his direction. "Oh, some days I'd really like to hex him to oblivion."

He snickered. "Are you still going to the village?"

"Yeah. I have to get my Aunt a birthday present. Are you _sure_ you won't go?"

"I'm sure. Have fun."

She kissed his cheek. "I'll find you when I get back."

He nodded and headed up to the seventh floor to the Room of Requirement. It had been ages since he had been to the Founders Library. He had every intention of trying to finish the book on _Skin Magic_ before his lesson with Dumbledore.

He had read so many books lately, his head felt like it was about to explode but he felt like he _needed_ to make some head way through the books that Voldemort had also read while he had a free moment.

The library, thankfully, allowed him entrance so he settled into a chair and began reading.

An hour had passed when he looked up and nearly fell out of his chair. While he had been reading, the ghosts of Gryffindor and Slytherin had appeared, both reading ghostly books, and were sitting across from him.

"Gah! You scared me."

Slytherin smirked.

"Figured you could use the company," commented Gryffindor.

After he regulated his breathing, he nodded. "Thanks. Just, next time, tell me you're here." He then looked at them curiously. "How long _have_ you been here?"

"About 45 minutes," the ghost of Slytherin said.

He merely sighed and went back to his book.

Three hours later he finished the book and sat it down. The book was actually pretty informative. He glanced at the pile of books on the table, idly wondering if there were other books that dealt with Skin Magic. He got up and began to go through them.

He managed to find a book simply titled _Connection_.

"That's one I wrote myself," the Slytherin ghost said. "And if you're thinking about what I think you are, it's a good one to read next."

Harry nodded and sat down to read it. He immediately cast a Latin to English translating charm over the book. It was still written in parselscript, but the words looked like English (well Latin until he cast the charm) to him.

Sometimes he still had to try to make the sentences work because eighty percent of the time, parseltongue doesn't directly translate to common words, but he was getting a lot better at it.

An hour into the book found him jumping again when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Headmaster?" he asked as he attempted to control his heart rate ... again.

"Are you all right?"

"I will be in a minute."

"Your father's been looking for you."

"Do you know where he's looked?"

"Everywhere."

"Great," muttered Harry as he cast the tempus spell. "Er ... oops. I didn't mean to be late for our lesson. I got side tracked."

"What are you reading?"

"I ... I'd like your opinion on an idea but can I read this book first?"

"Certainly, my dear boy. Head on down to the warded classroom. I'll be along shortly."

"Can I meet you there in an hour?"

The Headmaster smiled and nodded.

* * *

Severus was in a fit of rage. He'd been looking for Harry for four hours. He knew the boy wasn't going to Hogsmeade so he wanted to work with him on wandless magic before his lesson with Albus.

But so far, every point-me and location spell fizzled. Even the spell on the boys necklace didn't respond, which annoyed him even further because even if Harry had been in the Room of Requirement, it would have told him.

With a sigh of frustration, he stormed into his rooms - only to be brought up short by Harry sitting on the couch reading a book.

"Where have you been?" he demanded.

"The library," Harry said casually.

"Do _not_ lie to me!"

Harry put the book he was reading down. "I'm not lying. I was in the library. Professor Dumbledore found me and said you were looking for me."

Severus fumed but glanced at Harry. The boy didn't seem to be lying but there was no way he was telling the complete truth.

"Sir? Did you need something? When the Headmaster told me you were looking for me, I figured it would be easier to just wait here instead of hunting for you."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "I wanted to work on wandless magic with you but you are already late for your lesson with the Headmaster."

"I'm going to be meeting him in about ten minutes. Is that all you needed?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Hagrid told me about the Runespoor. Were you okay talking to it?"

"Yeah, although, Malfoy caught me alone after potions class and told me that I shouldn't show off like that."

"Show off?" asked Severus as he raised his eyebrow.

"Malfoy said talking to snakes is a skill that every Slytherin wants." He rolled his eyes. "He said it in that superior smug way of his. Sometimes he makes me want to hit him. Although, he did also warn me that it may cause some people to think I'm Voldemort's apprentice or something, too. Anyway, I told Cisteria I'd be down this weekend."

Severus frowned, unsure what to comment on first. "Who, in Merlin's name, is Cisteria?"

The boy laughed. "The Runespoor."

"They're poisonous."

"Just the right head."

A thought crossed his mind. "Are you able to control her?"

"Ha! No! She'd probably bite me if I tried. Why? Do you want some kind of ingredient or something?"

"How do you not get bit if you can't control her?"

The boy laughed. "I asked her politely to not bite me."

"That's it?" asked Severus in disbelief.

"Yep. Anyway, I'm going to head to the warded classroom. I'll see you later."

Severus nodded and watched as the boy fled. He would ask Albus where he had found him, but he had a suspicion that the Headmaster would lie.

He then headed into his potions lab where he was immediately brought up short.

There, sitting on the lab table in three different jars, was the shed skin of a Runespoor.

He wondered when Harry had done this but figured he would ask later. As he made sure the jars were sealed properly, he figured that maybe, this time, he'd let Harry get away with the library answer.

At least for now.

* * *

A/N: I meant to publish this yesterday, but I got hit with another migraine, so I wasn't able too. I didn't do much of anything but sleep in a dark room the entire day.

Anyway, I enjoyed writing the scene with the Runespoor. Had quite a bit of fun with it actually. Off the top of my head, I can't remember what I have next. *Accepts the flogging.*

Annnddd if you figure out what Harry and the ghost of Slytherin were talking about, shhhhh. Don't tell! We don't want old Voldy to get wind of it. *shifty*

Oh, and I was asked if Harry had asked Dumbledore and Remus to give Snape actual custody, the answer is no. I have a scene dependent on that fact coming up too. (Even though it was discovered that Snape is Harry's actual father, Sirius (Harry's legal guardian for a while) had left guardianship to Dumbledore and Lupin, and they haven't corrected that yet, though Dumbledore did tell Harry a few chapter's back that whenever he was ready, they would transfer it over.)

Anywho, I'm off to the gym to walk in place for an hour and then this evening, I'm gonna edit the next chapter. :)

*sets out lots of prezzies for reviews*

Thanks everyone who has reviewed so far! :-) *big gigantic hugz*


	120. Moving?

Disclaimer: I don't own HP!

* * *

Chapter 120

* * *

_March 24, 1996_

_Tonight's lesson was given to me by the Minister. I was shocked when I walked in the room and saw him standing there. I guess this means Minister Shacklebolt is in the Order after all._

_Anyway, it was a lesson on evasion. Basically I needed to be faster than the spells. At one point I had been so focused on dodging and evading spells, I crashed into the wall. I have a feeling I'm going to have a bruise tomorrow but I'll be fine._

_I'm fairly tired, even thought I didn't cast the first spell the entire evening. If I learned any one thing though is that while I'm out of shape, I'm not as out of shape as I thought._

_But dear sweet Merlin do I ache. I'll be lucky to move tomorrow._

_As for moving, I know it was just a stray thought before but I'm seriously considering moving down here with Snape on a permanent basis. I like it down here. Yes, I want to strangle him when he yells at me but at least I can pretty much tell beforehand when he's going to yell._

_I managed to get on his good side over the library incident, too. When I went down to see Cisteria this morning, she let me have more shed skin and an old egg that never hatched. They went to Snape, who practically danced when I handed them over._

_H. Potter_

* * *

Harry plopped down on his bed in the dorm. He had a headache that rivaled the one he had after he had hit his head on the wall. This time, though, it was from another occlumency test.

Either it was from exhaustion because he hadn't been sleeping much or it was because Snape had been extremely forceful, but his shields had been forced apart. (Thus, his headache.) He had then received some pointers about how to keep it up.

Ron came in the dorm a couple minutes after he downed the Dreamless Sleep Draught.

"Harry, are you okay?"

"No, but I should be in the morning."

"Hermione's pissed at you, again."

"What else is new?" He yawned, already feeling the potion taking effect. "It's not my fault Snape keeps pulling me away. I promise I'm not slacking off. He does make me study."

"I think if there was a way she could actually see you study then she'd back off."

Harry rolled his eyes. "No, she won't. Does she harp on you when you don't study during your free periods?"

"I ain't stupid. I tell her I study even when I don't."

"I tried that but it didn't work. Evidently I'm a bad liar."

As he was climbing beneath his covers, Neville came in the room. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. "Uh, Nev, do you have green skin?"

He saw Neville look at him funny. "Not since I looked a second ago. Are you all right?"

"I'm purple. Good circle." He was then unable to keep fighting the potion and fell asleep.

* * *

Ron and Neville looked at each other.

"Did he just tell us that he was purple?" asked Neville.

"He did," admitted Ron. The red head spotted a half empty vial on the night stand. "I've seen him take this before but he's never acted this strange."

"Reckon we should get McGonagall?"

Ron sighed. "No. That's a dreamless sleep potion. He won't wake up the rest of the night. If he's still being weird in the morning, I'll make him go to Madam Pomphrey."

"Maybe he's just tired?" suggested Neville.

"Maybe ..."

* * *

Harry awoke the next morning with his head killing him. He blindly stumbled to and opened his trunk and began looking through it for something for a headache.

He had nothing.

A wave of nausea hit him and before he could stop himself, he threw up in the middle of the room.

"Harry?" came a voice behind him.

He slammed his eyes shut, mainly to stop the spinning sensation. Unfortunately that just made it worse.

"Harry, answer me or I'm going to get McGonagall."

He now recognized the voice as belonging to Neville.

Harry put his head on his trunk, unable to move back to the bed.

"Potter, what's wrong?"

"Headache," he muttered. Had he fallen asleep sitting in the floor?

"Drink this," came the soothing voice of his Head of House.

He drank a portion of it only to immediately throw it back up.

"Sorry," he muttered, then winced at the loudness of his own voice.

"Can you stand?"

"If you'd stop the room from spinning," he said weakly.

He vaguely thought he heard a muttered apology before every thing went black.

When Harry opened his eyes next, he winced at the brightness of the infirmary.

He sighed. Just once, he'd like to go an entire year without ending up in here. If there was another plus to moving in with Snape, it was that the man was a potions master and trained in healing. He had a feeling it would decrease his visits to the hospital wing drastically.

"Are you awake?"

He slowly turned his head to see Lupin sitting at his bedside. "Yeah. Why am I here this time?"

Lupin chuckled. "You do end up in here an awful lot. You had a severe headache. Weasley and Longbottom said you were talking nonsense last night and this morning you got sick."

"I vaguely remember getting sick. What's wrong with me?"

"You had an occlumency test with Severus yesterday, correct?"

He nodded - albeit slowly.

"And did you take the Dreamless Sleep Draught last night?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You took it with a severe headache."

He narrowed his eyes in thought. "I wouldn't do that. I know the warnings about that potion. I've looked it up. If I take it with a headache, I could become delirious and get very sick. Of course, there's also the fact that I might not wake up at all."

"You took it _and_ you didn't take anything for your headache, either."

Harry grimaced. "Snape's gonna flay me alive. I know better."

"Last I saw him, he was yelling at your dorm mates. They explained how you were acting last night but figured all you needed to do was to sleep it off."

"That's not their fault. I didn't tell them about the headache or that I was taking a potion."

"Mr. Weasley saw the potion vial next to your bed."

"I normally hide it after I take it," he reluctantly admitted.

"Why?" asked Remus.

"Because they don't need to know I take potions to help me sleep nor that I rely on it to get a full nights rest." He then slammed his hand over his mouth. "Why did I say that?"

"The potion for migraines combined with the potion to help your body expel the Dreamless Sleep Draught can cause you to speak the truth."

"Veritaserum?"

"Not quite, but it does make a very mild form of a different type of truth potion."

"Great," he muttered. "Uh, why aren't you in class?"

Lupin laughed. "Anxious to get rid of me, huh? It's my free period. I have to go in a minute."

"Oh."

"Your books are over there," he said as he nodded at the table beside of Harry's bed. "Ms. Granger brought them down this morning after Professor McGonagall brought you down."

Harry nodded.

As Remus stood, he said, "oh, and Harry, I think moving down with Severus would be a good thing for you both. However, moving down there to avoid the hospital wing is not a good reason." He then winked. "You talked in your sleep."

He moaned in mortification.

After Lupin left, Madam Pomphrey came along. "How are you feeling?"

"I still have a headache," he admitted.

"Still?" She muttered under her breath as she scanned him. "Everything is fine. Here's a mild pain reliever. Small sips of it every two hours."

"I'm not leaving today?"

"I might let you out this evening. Here's a potion for nausea. Only take it if you need it.":

"Yes ma'am." He immediately took a small sip of the headache relieving potion and forced himself to stay awake as he reached for his Ancient Runes textbook.

* * *

Severus was furious.

Oh, the day had started out well enough. He had finished brewing several potions early that morning. He had shipped a few more orders out with his owl. He had even managed to finish grading his fourth year essays.

It was on the way to breakfast that his day rapidly started going downhill.

As he was about to enter the Great Hall, Granger stopped and informed him that Harry was in the hospital wing - again.

He rushed up there to find Potter throwing up almost nonstop into a conjured pail.

He also found Weasley and Longbottom at the foot of the bed looking extraordinarily guilty, so he pulled them away and questioned them.

Their foolishness in not reporting Harry's strange behavior could have killed him. After reading them the riot act, he headed over to see his son, who was now passed out.

"How is he?"

"He has a migraine. He'll be fine. He expelled all of the Dreamless Sleep Potion."

"He knows better than to take that with a headache," he said with no small amount of frustration.

"It's possible the headache distracted him from what he knew," Minerva said.

"Well it shouldn't have."

"Severus, when he wakes up, you will not yell at him," scolded Minerva.

"His lack of thought could have killed him," he pointed out in irritation.

"And I doubt he'll make the same mistake again," Minerva said calmly.

"He shouldn't have made it to begin with," he replied hotly.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "He shouldn't have but Severus, you demand perfection from him and he's not perfect. No one is. Remember that when you talk to him later."

He sighed in resignation as he watched his son sleep fitfully.

He eventually had to head off to class.

It was dinnertime before he could return.

He found Harry asleep so he settled in a nearby chair and waited for him to wake. He only had to wait ten minutes.

"Snape?"

"How are you feeling?" asked Severus as he picked up Harry's wrist to check his pulse.

"My headache is finally gone but Madam Pomphrey had to give me some kind of green potion to make it go away."

Severus frowned. That was a _very_ strong headache reliever. A stray thought entered his mind. "Are your Occlumency shields up?"

"Yeah. I thought of that earlier. They're fine." He then sighed. "Go ahead and yell at me."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Why would I yell at you?"

"Because I should have known better? Because I could have accidentally killed myself? Because I should have told Ron and Neville what to look for if I took that potion and showed strange side effects?"

Severus looked Harry over. Albus was right. (He had met the Headmaster in a meeting during lunch.) The boy was already beating himself up. He didn't need the added guilt.

"We all make mistakes, Harry. I doubt you'll make the same one again."

His son looked at him incredulously. "You're not gonna yell?"

"No."

"Just when I think I can anticipate the lectures, you do something to surprise me."

Severus bit back a chuckle.

* * *

Friday evening found Harry sitting in the common room playing exploding snap with Ron and the twins.

He was raking up a sizable debris pile when an explosion nearby garnered his attention. He laughed along with everyone else as Lee Jordan was being chased around the room by Alicia Spinnet, who was now sporting flaming devil horns and a matching tail. Even Hermione was fighting back a laugh from behind the book she was reading.

Snape had, thankfully, given him the night off - no doubt to make sure his headache was truly gone this time.

If he moved in with the man, he would definitely miss all of this. He eyed Ron. Maybe his best friend could help him with a decision.

At the end of their game, he asked Ron to follow him. Once in the dorm room he asked, "I've been thinking about something on and off for a while now and I was wondering if you think it's a crazy idea?"

Ron gave him a weird look. "You have to tell me what it is first."

He took a deep breath then exhaled slowly. "I was ... well ... I am ... er ..."

"Spit it out, Harry," Ron said while looking at him.

"I'm afraid you might hate me."

"Why? Are you cheating on Susan with Ginny or something?"

Harry sputtered. "No. I see Ginny as a little sister. And I wouldn't cheat on anyone!"

"Well, then seeing as how you're not touching my sister, I doubt I'm going to hate you."

"I want to move down to Snape's rooms permanently," he blurted out.

"Why?" asked Ron slowly.

"Because, well ... I enjoy the times I stay down there. I already stay down there at least four nights a week."

"But Harry, you have more freedom when you stay up here."

"I know. I figure Snape will also give me rules but ... I just feel that if I moved down there, we can get to know each other better."

"I don't understand though, Harry. You should be able to do that now."

"I learn bits and pieces but its not the same." Harry paused and thought about how he could explain his reasoning so Ron could understand it. "You had eleven years before you came to Hogwarts for you and your dad to get to know each other. I wasn't given that chance."

Ron frowned but then nodded. "It's for you _and_ him."

"It is. Especially with the war heating up the way it is. I want us to have good memories of each other should one of us get killed."

Ron then took on a determined expression and nodded. "Then go for it. Just make sure you are allowed to stay up here occasionally."

"Are you sure? This means you'll have to go down there even more. I don't want to make you even more uncomfortable."

"I'll be fine. Well, as long as he doesn't pull that vampire stunt again."

Harry laughed. "I can't believe you fell for it twice."

"Yeah, well. We will never discuss that again," Ron said as he flushed the color of his hair. "Have you asked him, yet?"

"Snape? Not yet. I figure I'll ask tomorrow."

"Harry ... why do you still call him Snape?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why don't you call him dad or father?"

Harry paused as he rummaged in his desk for something. "I ... I don't know. I've never really thought about it. Do you reckon he wants me too?"

Ron snickered. "I doubt it. I was just curious. Come on. Find a chocolate frog for me too then let's let Hermione lecture us on something."

"I've got a better idea," Harry said as he threw the box of candy at Ron. "Let's go distract her from the books. She needs a break before her brain fries."

"I like that idea even more," admitted the red head with a grin.

* * *

Severus carefully stirred the potion he was currently brewing. He was trying to improve the Wolf's Bane Potion as well as a nerve regeneration potion. He had several infirmary potions brewing as well.

As he deftly cut up some yarrow roots, he heard a tentative knock at the door. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Potter lingering in the threshold. "Yes?"

"After my lesson with Dumbledore, can I talk to you about something?"

"You may. What is he going to be teaching you tonight?"

"Fire. He also told me that if I grasp it pretty well, he'd show me how fire and water can be combined defensively."

Severus grimaced. "Go to my personal stores and grab a jar of burn salve."

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Harry tap his wand against his personal store cabinet. When he had given Harry the bedroom, he had also assigned him his own password to get into the cabinet.

"I hope I won't need it," Harry muttered.

"That makes two of us," agreed Severus. "Just make sure you pay attention to what he says."

Potter then left the lab.

An hour into his brewing had passed when he felt his left arm twinge. He sighed in annoyance. He needed to get Albus and Potter to replace the silver warding wire. He wished the Dark Mark could be removed. He hated that the Dark Lord still held that power over him.

As he finished bottling the last of the infirmary potions, he idly wondered if Potter could remove it. It was placed in parseltongue after all. Surely it could be removed in parseltongue as well. He needed to review the memory of his marking.

He glanced in the cauldron containing the Wolf's Bane Potion he was trying to improve and frowned. Evidently adding crushed lotus leaves caused the liquid to turn into a solid. He vanished the potion then made the appropriate notes in his personal potions grimoire.

He stirred the nerve regeneration potion. It needed to brew on low heat over night, so he set up a protective shield and left his lab to wash up.

After his shower, he grabbed his potions' journal to make a few more observations.

It was three hours later when Harry entered his quarters followed by Albus.

"How did the lesson go?" he inquired curiously.

"Minus one minor incident, Harry here seems to be a natural at controlling fire."

"One minor incident?"

Harry flushed. "I got ... a little excited and my magic flared a little stronger than I meant it too."

"Did you get hurt?"

"Just a small burn on his arm, Severus. I applied the salve to it immediately."

He nodded. "I'm glad you're here, Albus. I need the coil on my arm replaced."

"I'll floo up to my rooms and grab the silver wire. I'll be back in about five minutes."

After Albus left, he looked over at Harry. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Er ... after we re-apply the wire."

Severus frowned at Harry's increased fidgetiness. The boy looked nervous for some reason.

A half hour later had Harry curled up in the chair by the fire. Severus maintained his seat on the sofa.

"Now, what did you want to discuss?"

To his confusion, he pulled a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket. "This is my mom's letter to me. In it, she wanted me to give you a chance, which I have."

Severus' heart started pounding harder. Was Harry about to reject him? Was that why the boy was squirming so much? He made sure to keep his face neutral.

Harry glanced in the direction of the fire before looking back toward him. The boy then took a deep breath.

Severus mentally prepared for the rejection, therefore he missed what Harry had actually said.

"What?" he asked.

"I was wondering if I could move down here," Harry had repeated hesitantly.

"Move down here?" asked Severus dubiously.

"Only if you want me too. I mean, if you only want me down here the four nights I spend, I understand. I'm trying not to be a bother or a hassle and I promise to be quiet and stay out of the way ..."

Severus held up his hand. He needed a minute to process what was being said, so he got up to fix himself a glass of firewhiskey. As he returned to his seat, he saw Harry watching him warily.

"Tell me the reason for your choice."

"Well, mom wanted us to get to know each other and living together will help with that. And uh ... well, I want too. I actually like spending time with you."

"Harry, you can spend time down here anytime. We talk then and we _are_ getting to know each other."

"I know. I just ... I dunno. Maybe this was a stupid idea."

"Are there any other reasons?"

He watched Harry squirm a little but nod. He raised his eyebrow indicating for him to continue speaking.

"I look at Ron and Mr. Weasley and I want what they have. The way I see it, before Ron came to Hogwarts, they had eleven years together and I'm afraid that with Voldemort running rampant the way he is, either one of us might end up dead. I wanted each of us to have, well, good memories in case that happened."

Severus sat his glass down and stared into the fire. "I ... am not demonstrative about my feelings like Arthur is to his children, so if that's what you want, I'm afraid I'm unable to give it to you."

He saw Harry smirk out of the corner of his eyes. "If you started acting like Mr. Weasley, I'd take _you_ to see Madam Pomphrey."

"If you want to make more positive memories, you don't have to move down here for that to happen."

"I know," came a resigned whisper.

"If you do move down here, you must know that I'm going to set rules and expect you to obey them."

"I know," he said again, "but I'd also like to sleep in the dorm occasionally. It'd give me a night with my friends and you a night to yourself. I know you like being alone."

Severus scrutinized Harry's expression. "Are you absolutely sure about this? Have you obtained your friends opinion on the matter?"

"I've talked to Ron."

He was surprised. "And he agreed?"

Harry shrugged. "He supported me."

"Go to the dorm tonight. Talk to Ms. Granger and Mr. Longbottom. Tomorrow, talk to Lupin. Then we'll revisit this discussion before your lesson."

"Who's teaching me?"

"I think Lupin is actually. But do you understand what I want you to do?"

"Yeah. But, sir, if you don't want me to move down here, I'll understand."

"I didn't say that. Go on up to your dorm. Fifth year curfew is in another hour."

He stood up and placed the letter he was holding on the table. "My mother's letter to me. I'll get it tomorrow. Good night, sir."

"Night, Potter."

He watched Harry leave his quarters then blindly grabbed his glass of firewhiskey and downed the whole thing as he warily eyed the letter.

He replayed the conversation over in his head. He paused about the fact that Harry didn't seem to believe he could protect him. He had wanted positive memories for the both of them, just in case.

He got up to refill his glass. True, he couldn't actually protect the boy from everything and there was always the fact that it could be himself that was killed.

Truthfully, he doubted he could deny Harry anything and if he was honest with himself, then he also wanted Harry to move down here. He enjoyed spending time with him, even when they were working on separate things.

After downing a third and then a fourth glass of alcohol, he realized he needed someone to talk to, which meant Albus.

He would do that in the morning, not now. No doubt if he went up there now, Albus would yell at him for some reason or another.

He quickly downed a fifth glass of firewhiskey then turned back to the letter. "No. I'll read it in the morning," he muttered to himself.

He abruptly headed to his bedroom. Maybe he'd be able to think clearer tomorrow.

* * *

Harry sighed as he slid down the wall. He grabbed a glass of water Dobby had provided and quickly drank it.

For the past four hours, Lupin had been teaching him how to use different types of defensive moves offensively. He had learned a ton and he could freely admit he would have never thought of over half of what he had learned.

"Are you okay, Harry?"

"Yeah. I'll be ready again in a minute."

"We're finished for the night. You have that review paper due for me in class tomorrow."

"It's mostly finished."

"So what did you and Severus decide regarding you moving in with him?"

"I tried to talk to him earlier but he was in a meeting with Dumbledore."

"I understand he told you to ask your friends their opinions on moving in with him. What did they say?"

"Neville automatically understood my reasoning ... I guess because if he had a chance to get to know his dad, he would."

Lupin handed him another glass of water, which he gratefully took.

"Hermione, also understood my reasoning. Her main concern would be that I wouldn't study as hard if I was out of her eyesight. I had to remind her that Snape yells at me if I get anything less than an 'E' on a paper. After that, she fully supported me. What about you?"

Lupin smiled at him. "If this is what you want, then I fully support you too."

"How mad would Sirius be?"

Lupin sighed. "Oh, he would be furious but only because he would want you to live with him. Don't base your decision on how he might or might not behave. He never got the full story. Base your decision on you."

"I'm afraid he doesn't want me to move down with him. I might have pushed him."

"Harry, he gave you the extra time to make sure this is what _you_ want. If you agree to this, then even if you argue with each other, you can't just move back out."

"I know and this _is_ what I want."

Lupin stood and ruffled his already messy hair. "All right. Go talk to him. I'll see you in the morning."

Harry stood and made his way to Snape's quarters. He had also told Susan about wanting to move. She had told him that she also supported him but they definitely had to be careful about being in by curfew.

He entered Snape's quarters and found the man gone. He shrugged slightly and headed to his room to finish his Defense review paper. He saw his mother's letter on his desk, but left it there until he could put it back in his trunk.

Thirty minutes later, Snape knocked on his bedroom door.

"Hi. Just finished my paper for Defense."

"Can I sit?"

Harry nodded and scooted over. He had been doing his homework on his bed instead of at his desk.

"Have you talked with everyone about moving down here?"

He nodded. "As long as this is something I want, they all support me."

Harry saw Snape look at him as if he was trying to dissect him. "And is this something you want?"

"Yes, but that doesn't matter. What do you want?"

Snape raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Do you want me to move down here?"

"I do and if it's what you really want, then I agree, but before you fully commit, you need to hear my rules."

Harry put his defense book and roll of parchment in the floor and turned more fully toward Snape. "Okay."

"Rule one, if you are hurt, you will not hide it from me, even if it's something as simple as a headache."

Harry frowned. "I'm used to taking care of myself and not complaining."

"I know but that needs to change. Rule two, you will be in by curfew unless you are with me, Albus, or an Order member training."

He was still annoyed with rule one but figured Snape wouldn't know everything and he suspected the curfew rule so he nodded.

"The next rule you already know but every time you get below an 'E' on a paper or exam, we will discuss why. Your punishment will depend on the outcome of our discussion."

Harry gulped. "Punishment?"

"We'll get to that in a moment."

He grimaced but nodded.

"Under _no_ circumstances are you to flex your 'hero' complex," Snape said sternly.

"Huh?"

"You have an unhealthy need to save and protect everyone and it needs to stop."

Harry looked at Snape as if he was crazy. "Ok, first of all, if I'm in a position to help, then I will. I don't like it when people suffer. It's in my nature and I can't change who I am."

"I can't protect _you_ if you run off on a whim to protect every person you perceive is in danger."

"Please," muttered Harry as he rolled his eyes. "I don't go off randomly."

Snape snorted in disagreement.

"Well," said Harry slowly. "I do sometimes, but always for a good reason." He crossed his arms in defiance.

"Let's compromise for now," Snape suggested. "Anytime you feel the need to save someone, come find me. If you can't, grab the nearest available adult."

Harry bit his tongue. There was no way he would agree to this rule. He would just have to take whatever punishment Snape wanted to give him so he gave a vague nod.

"If there are any questions, you just have to ask me. Don't be afraid of my answer."

"How will you punish me?" he asked.

"I will not hit you, so you need not have a fear of that. I will take away privileges, access to your friends, your free time - things like that. If I find that's not helping, I'll explore other avenue's."

He exhaled slowly and nodded.

"Very well. Go pack your things and be back by curfew. Have Dobby bring your trunk so you don't have to carry it through the hallways."

Harry stood up and after picking his book, parchment, quill, and a vial of ink off the floor, he placed them on his desk. He then headed for the door.

"You'll also be required to keep your room clean. You ... not Dobby," Snape added.

"I know. I'll be back in about an hour."

Snape nodded as he left the bedroom.

* * *

A/N: So, who thinks Harry's off his rocker if he believes his hospital visits will decrease if he moves in with Snape? bwahahaha

Anyway, this was originally two chapters, then I made it into one, then I re-worked it and it turned into three, then I finally got it back to one. I figured everyone would appreciate a long chapter since I went missing for two weeks.

I debated about having this chapter in the story now as opposed to later, and I decided to go ahead and do it now. Because Harry is correct. Right now, the top three people Voldy wants to kill is Harry, Dumbledore, and Snape. For all we know, in the next chapter Voldy manages to off everyone! (Well, I know ... but uh ... I can't tell you ... because well, that would be cheating! *nods sagely*)

As for Snape pondering about his Dark Mark being removed, well, let's just say that it's not as easy as saying "go away" in parseltongue. ;-)

Up next, Harry realizes how much freedom he actually had in the dorm room. Oh, and uh, there is an unplanned trip to Hogsmeade for Harry as well. I'm still in the process of typing it, but hopefully I'll have it up by Sunday.

Thanks to everyone for all the reviews. I can't believe I'm nearing the thousand review marker! *Sends lots of chocolates and pizza and tacos out to everyone!*

Oh, and I was asked if I was going back to naming my chapters. Yes. I'll try to get names up for them this week. :) Sometimes in my haste to post, I forget to do that. *hangs head in shame*

A/N Part 2: I loaded this last night around midnight but I didn't get a notice, nor did the chapter fully upload. I went to check on it this morning and it came up as 'missing'. So, let's try this again!


	121. Nightmares, Punishments, Curses Oh My!

Disclaimer: All the usual's apply!

* * *

Chapter 121

* * *

Monday morning came early for Harry. He had stayed up until nearly midnight unpacking and fixing his room to his liking. He had then spent another hour writing in his journal.

As he made his way to the Gryffindor Table the next morning, he saw Dean and Seamus throwing him looks of disbelief. He grimaced. He had removed his stuff while they had been in the common room.

"So, Harry," began Seamus. "All of your stuff is missing in our dorm."

He nodded. "I moved down with Snape, but I am allowed to spend the occasional night in the dorm."

"Why?" asked Dean in a horrified voice.

Harry shrugged. "Because I wanted too. Ron, did you finish your paper for Lupin?"

Ron nodded as he stood up. "I'll see you in Binns' classroom."

"Where are you going?" asked Hermione suspiciously.

"To the dorm. I forgot something," the red head said as he grabbed two bagels and rushed out of the Great Hall.

Harry saw Hermione look at him with her eyes narrowed.

"Don't look at me like that. I have no idea what he forgot," he said around a mouth full of porridge.

"Where's Susan?" asked Lavender. "Did you two break up when she realized you were moving to the dungeons?"

Harry scowled. "No, we didn't. She was fine with it. She's probably running late again."

"How shallow do you think she is?" asked Hermione suddenly.

"What?" asked Harry, clearly confused.

"Not you, Harry. I'm talking to Lavender."

Lavender glared at her, but Harry noticed that her cheeks had darkened some.

"Lavender was insinuating that Susan would break up with you just because you moved in with Snape."

He saw his year mate shrug. "It's Snape."

"Well it's a good thing he's not dating you then, isn't it, since you would clearly break up with him over something he can't control," Susan said as she came up behind Lavender.

"He controls whether or not he moved in with him," Lavender pointed out as she glared at Susan over her shoulder.

Harry sensed that Susan was about to slap Lavender. Her magic was pulsing and vibrating. As he stood, he grabbed her arm. "Let's go."

"No Harry. I'm not finished talking to her."

He glared at Susan. "It's not worth it and all of the teachers are watching. Let's go."

He saw her relent and they walked out in the hall together.

"You should have let me hit her," she said, obviously still agitated.

He rolled his eyes. "Just ignore her. I do."

They talked together for a few minutes before she headed off to her class and he went to History of Magic. As she walked away, he had sensed that her magic had calmed some. He just hoped it stayed that way.

* * *

Wednesday evening found Harry getting back to Snape's quarters thirty minutes after fifth year curfew.

He cautiously entered the room and grimaced when he saw Snape sitting on the couch reading by the fire.

"You're late."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry."

"Why are you late?"

Harry shifted from one foot to another. "The study group ran late."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Madam Pince always kicks students from the library ten minutes before that years' curfew. Try again."

"We weren't in the library. We were in an abandoned classroom on the seventh floor. The study group is too big to fit in the library without making too much noise."

"So, you're saying that more than just you was out after curfew?"

"Er ..."

"After classes tomorrow, you are to come straight here. You will eat your meals here, as well."

Harry sighed. Despite the fact he expected this, he really didn't expect Snape to punish him if he admitted to studying. As he headed to his room, he figured it was a good thing he didn't admit to walking Susan to the Hufflepuff dorms because that was the real reason he was late.

He put his stuff away and grabbed the recent elemental book that Dumbledore had wanted him to read. He fell asleep an hour and a half later, still holding onto the book.

* * *

Severus looked around his room wondering what woke him. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was about three in the morning.

Grabbing his robe, he immediately headed to Harry's room. There, he saw him thrashing about on the bed but, to his confusion, he couldn't hear anything.

However, as soon as he crossed the threshold, the screaming assaulted his senses.

"Harry, wake up," he said as he reached out to gently shake him.

As soon as his hand touched Harry's shoulder, he was thrown across the room.

He immediately stood back up and went to shake Harry again, this time more cautiously.

"Harry. Harry. It's just a nightmare. Wake up."

Harry suddenly bolted out of the bed.

Severus watched him as he tried to regulate his breathing.

"What happened?"

"You were having a nightmare," he said.

"Oh. Sorry. I thought I cast the spell on the room correctly. I'll redo it tomorrow."

He watched as Harry climbed back in the bed. "In the morning, I want you to remove it completely. I thought your nightmare's stopped."

Harry shivered as the pulled the blankets up. "Never fully stopped."

Severus opened his mouth to say something only to realize Harry had fallen back asleep. He tucked the blanket more firmly around him then tried to cancel the silencing spell on the room, but was unable to.

He glanced over his shoulder and wondered if Harry interwove that spell with his wand on purpose.

Realizing he wouldn't go to sleep again, he stalked to his potions lab. Maybe he could make some type of potion that would help prevent the nightmares.

By the time he had left his lab, he spotted dishes in the kitchen and his son missing. Evidently the boy had ate as quickly as he could and fled the room.

* * *

Harry wandlessly summoned the vase from across the room. Halfway to his hand, he pointed his wand at it and yelled, "_confringo"_.

"Excellent. This time I want you to do both spells without a wand. Put your wand in your wand holder."

Harry grimaced. He had a feeling Snape was working him extra hard because he had refused to take down the silencing ward on his bedroom. They had yelled at each other for over an hour the other night. It had resulted in another evening away from his friends.

"_Accio_ vase," Harry said as he concentrated on the vase across the room. "_Confringo_," he called out a split second later as he mirrored the wand movement with his hand.

He sighed as he caught the non-exploded vase.

"Again," commanded Snape.

Three hours later, Harry let out a slight groan as he collapsed into a chair.

"Get up."

"I'm tired," he replied petulantly.

Snape looked down at him. "I know but you won't always be wide awake if you find yourself attacked."

Harry sighed as he stood back up. He eyed the vase and said, "_Accio ... confringo_."

He startled as the vase _finally_ caught fire and exploded in mid air. He turned to look at Snape. "_Now_ can I go to bed?"

Snape snorted. "Yes. Help me vanish all the broken shards of clay and we'll walk back together."

Harry let his wand slide down into his hand and began helping Snape clean up the mess.

Twenty minutes later, he was sound asleep in his bed.

* * *

Severus walked Harry down to the warded classroom where Albus was waiting on them both.

"Sorry I'm late, sir," Harry mumbled to Albus.

The Headmaster raised an eyebrow. "Everything okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Everything is fine. Ms. Granger didn't want to let him leave his O.W.L. study group."

Albus sighed. "How many points did you take, Severus?"

"Only fifteen."

"Fifteen points to Gryffindor," Albus said pointedly. "It's not her fault that Harry is not allowed to tell his friends where he is going or what he is doing."

"I've asked her to study for the subjects I'm not taking on the weekends, but she refuses to budge from her schedule," Harry added.

"What are you doing today?" asked Severus as he changed the subject. He was annoyed Albus had given the points back, especially since he took them because of her cheek. He figured he'd just find another way to remove them.

"We're still working with fire, and before you ask, yes, I have a jar of your burn salve."

He nodded and swept out of the room, his robes billowing behind him. He swiftly headed to his office in his quarters. He fully intended to make use of the time Albus and Harry were _both _occupied by procuring a few things in Hogsmeade.

After grabbing his list of the things he needed to pick up, he grabbed his pouch of money, his cloak, downed a vial of polyjuice (after all, he was wanted dead by the Dark Lord), and began his journey to the local village.

* * *

Harry grinned at Dumbledore.

"Good job, Harry. Clearly you really are a natural at controlling fire. Now, this time, after you get it built up again, I want you to have it change its shape into an animal."

He frowned as he looked at the torch standing in the middle of the room. "What's the spell?"

"There is no spell. We didn't attempt this with water because while you could control the basics, you couldn't quite grasp the more advanced spell-work."

"If there's no spell, how do I change its shape?"

"In this case, you use your mind and eventually your magic will follow."

"So I just say the animal over and over in my head?"

"Essentially but you must also make sure you keep control of the fire. If it helps, for the first couple of times, say the name of the animal out loud."

Harry nodded and took a deep breath. He then raised his wand and murmured the spell to cause the fire to increase. Using well practiced wand movements, he caused the fire to swirl into a huge ball. He then hovered the ball of fire in the air for a minute.

"Stag," he said.

He frowned when the fire simply extinguished.

The Headmaster chuckled as he re-lit the torch. "Try again."

On the fifth try, Harry managed to keep the ball of flame up as he said stag over and over.

"Now try it silently, Harry. Remember to push what you are thinking through your magic."

Twenty minutes later, Harry growled in frustration.

"It's all right, Harry. Let's move on to something else for a while."

Harry nodded but before Dumbledore could give him something else to do, he gasped. He was suddenly dizzy and felt like he was being punched in the stomach.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

"Something's ..." He trailed off as he instinctively reached inside his own magic. "Snape's hurt." He got up from the ground where he had fallen to his knees, rushed out of the warded classroom, and headed to his and Snape's rooms - Dumbledore following right behind him.

However, a search showed the rooms to be empty.

Harry grimaced again. "Why isn't he here?"

"Harry," Dumbledore said urgently, catching his eye, "look deep inside your magic again. The answer will come to you."

He done so. "Hogsmeade. He's in Hogsmeade."

"Stay here."

"No. I need to go," he said as he reached out to grab the Headmaster's arm.

Dumbledore paused for half a second. "If I tell you to hide or to stay behind me, you are to obey me without question."

He nodded. He had to help Snape!

Together, they ran toward the front hall. His mind vaguely registered surprise that they didn't see anyone else, but then again, they did use several side passages to get to the entrance of the castle.

It only took about ten to fifteen minutes to get to the village but it felt like hours to him.

With his wand at the ready, next to the Headmaster, they cautiously began searching the area. He found it ominous that the village was completely silent.

"Where is everyone?" whispered Harry.

"Inside," Dumbledore replied as he headed down an alley way.

Harry frowned as he felt a tug on his magic. It felt really weird. "That way," he said, pointing down a different alley.

"Put up a shield and stay behind me," the Headmaster said, very seriously.

When they rounded the corner, Harry gasped in surprise.

There, lying in a puddle of mud and blood, was the body of an unknown man but the magical signature of Snape was clearly recognizable to him. Evidently the man had used something to disguise himself, most likely polyjuice.

He made to immediately run to him when he saw the magical signature of an invisible person standing about ten feet to the left of where Snape was laying in the mud.

The Headmaster wordlessly sent ropes that surrounded the person.

Three more Death Eaters immediately apparated in.

"Well, well, well. We just expected Dumbledore, not itty bitty baby Potter," cackled Bellatrix gleefully.

Harry instinctively pushed more of his magic into his shield.

"And you thought that the three of you were going to take him out?" he asked in an incredulous tone.

"There are more than three of them," the Headmaster replied casually.

He extended his senses. Dumbledore was right. He sensed at least five more people. They must have disguised their magical signature's, no doubt because they knew Dumbledore could see them.

A spell suddenly shot and bounced off of Harry's shield. It was all that was needed to start the vicious spell casting between the Death Eaters and Dumbledore and Harry.

"_Cutis coqure_," he immediately hissed in parseltongue as he aimed at Bellatrix. It had been one of the spells he had read about in Slytherins books. He only had a vague idea what it would do. Unfortunately her shield blocked most of the spell, but not all of it.

She screamed out as some of her skin started boiling.

He then focused on defense for the moment. If he got another chance at her, he'd definitely take it, but for now, he did not.

Using some of the moves Lupin taught him, he was able to take out two attackers by using his shield alone.

From the corner of his eye, he watched Dumbledore duel four Death Eaters at once with ease.

Unfortunately, he hadn't seen Snape move the first time.

He dodged a curse as he managed to stun Gabriella's father, though he wouldn't have known it was him without being familiar with the man's magical signature. (The masks prevented the true identity's from being known - except for Bellatrix who wasn't wearing one.)

Just as Dumbledore cast some kind of spell that sent two Death Eaters flying, Harry pointed his wand at the ground underneath one of the still invisible Death Eaters and yelled, "_bombarda_!"

The mud exploded all over the man and while he was distracted with that, Harry managed to stun him as well.

It was a minute later he heard Bellatrix mutter, "if Potter's here, that man must be Snape."

As if his heart rate hadn't been fast enough already, he felt it increase even more. (It wouldn't surprise him if the villagers could hear it while they were inside their shops.) He immediately cast a shield over the still non-moving Snape. He then had a choice. He could either shove everyone out of the way and apparate Snape to another portion of the village temporarily or he could stay and help Dumbledore and pray that he'd been able to keep the man safe from the various curses and spells flying through the air.

But not even a full second later, the choice was taken away from him when the beyond insane witch aimed her wand at Snape and yelled, "_Avada Kedavra."_

"NO!" he screamed as he dived at Snape, fully intending to take the Killing Curse himself.

* * *

A/N: I'm gonna apologize for posting this two months late, but I imagine a few of you are going to murder me with those pitchforks anyway.

First, I lost access to the program I usually type on again, so I downloaded something different. It does alright, but it saves things in a weird format. Anyway, I've been slowly getting used to it. Then I hit a major case of writers block. Just as I started to get over that, I got a phone call telling me that my step dad went in the hospital and was placed on a vent. I had since spent 3 1/2 weeks with him. (I lived in the hospital, only leaving twice, once to go to wal-mart to get more clothes and once to walk across the road to rite-aid for a few things. The hospital was in WV and I'm in VA now, so it's not like I could travel back and forth.) Since I haven't been able to fix my netbook yet, I had no real way of typing things. The only electronics I took with me were my Kindle Fire and my phone. I did take the story though to work on it, but I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. I could only really work on it in the evenings after I was kicked outta dad's room (he was in a semi and I couldn't stay because he had a roommate) but by that time, I was so exhausted, I'd normally fall straight to sleep.

Anyway, he's outta the hospital now and I had to put him in a skilled nursing / rehab facility so that he could learn to walk again. His leg muscles practically vanished where he was intubated for eight straight days.

I am now back in Virginia where I spent a day and a half cleaning my room, doing laundry, and unpacking. I was finally able to spend a few minutes typing up this next chapter.

I do wanna thank you all for not giving up on me. I swear to you I won't abandon this story. I'm having way too much fun writing it. All I ask is that you bare with me as I get back in the groove of things again.


	122. Being Questioned

Disclaimer: I don't own HP, just an evil cat that likes to spill things on my notes!

* * *

Chapter 122

* * *

Albus had just finished knocking the Death Eater's he had been dueling unconscious when he heard Bellatrix cast the Killing Curse. He swiftly turned his head and saw that the curse was heading straight toward Severus ... and that Harry was in the process of diving in front of it!

When Harry succeeded, he felt his heart nearly stop.

His eyes then widened when Bellatrix yelled, "No! That's impossible! _Avada Kedavra!_"

He, once again, blinked in disbelief when Harry took a second Killing Curse in as many seconds while yelling, "_stupefy_."

From where he stood, at least thirty feet away, he could feel the force of the magic that went into the curse, so he wasn't surprised in the least when she collapsed head first into a mud puddle, unconscious.

When she went down, the remaining two Death Eaters instantly apparated away.

He immediately rushed over to where Severus remained so deathly still, and to his astonishment, Harry was sitting on his knees, shaking the man gently.

"Wake up," he said. Albus could hear a slight tremor in the boys voice. "Wake up."

Albus knelt down, completely ignoring the mud, and felt for a pulse. "He's alive, Harry. We need to get him to Madam Pomphrey."

Before he could conjure a stretcher, several sounds of apparition were made behind him so he turned and immediately threw up a shield. He was pleased to see that despite the fact that Harry was clearly in distress, the boy had cast a shield as well. However, they need not have worried because it was several red-robed Auror's.

"Headmaster? We were alerted that Death Eaters are in the village."

He saw Tonks and four other Auror's begin scanning the area when suddenly one of them shouted, "Bellatrix Lestrange!"

"She's just stunned and I doubt she'll be waking up anytime soon," Albus said as he conjured a stretcher and levitated Severus on it. He then summoned a random rock and turned it into a port-key that would deposit them directly in the hospital wing. "I need to get Severus to the infirmary. You can question us there."

"We need to speak to Mr. Potter alone."

"I'm not leaving Snape," the boy said vehemently.

"He can't be questioned without his legal guardian present and since you also need to question me, it will have to be Remus Lupin. We'll be waiting in the hospital wing at Hogwarts for you."

He then activated the port-key.

When all three of them appeared in the hospital wing, the two students in the beds screamed, causing Poppy to come running out of her office. He also noticed that the polyjuice potion was beginning to wear off.

Ten minutes later, they had managed to get Severus partially stabilized.

Harry, he saw, was shaking slightly and bleeding in several places but the boy refused to get treated until he knew that Severus was out of the woods.

"Harry, we need to move to let Madam Pomphrey have room to work. I need to know how you survived being hit by both Killing Curses."

* * *

Harry blinked unseeingly at Dumbledore and moved closer to Snape.

His heart had yet to quit pounding in his chest.

He then startled slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up into Dumbledore's clearly worried face.

"Harry, we need to give Madam Pomphrey some space. I've sent for Remus. Let's go to Poppy's office and talk."

"No," he insisted. "I can't leave him."

"He should be fine," the medi-witch said. "Go with Albus."

Harry glanced down at the blood on his hands and gave a small nod.

"Wash up in her bathroom so we can see what injuries you have."

"I'm fine."

"Harry? Albus? What on Earth happened?"

Harry glanced up as Remus came in the office.

"Harry, go get cleaned up. It's not up for debate. I need to explain the situation to Remus."

With a sigh, he nodded. However, once he went in the bathroom, instead of cleaning himself up, he sat down on the toilet.

It took several minutes but he was finally able to calm his heart rate. He then glanced at the dried blood on his arms and hands. He knew he had a couple of minor cuts and scratches but figured they had stopped bleeding by now. He was also fairly sure that his left arm was broken because it hurt to move it, but figured it wasn't a major break because he _could_ move it. Hopefully it was just sprained.

He took another deep breath. What he felt today was _nothing_ like what he felt when he had been in the graveyard last year. The fear that ran through him when he thought that Snape was dead _still_ had him shaking.

A knock at the door caused him to look up. "Harry, are you all right?"

He quickly got to his feet. "I'll be out in a minute."

He then began scrubbing the blood off that he could reach without hurting himself any more. He would need a shower to get it all off. A glance in the mirror had him frowning. At some point he had cut his face. He winced as he wiped that blood and mud away as well.

He rinsed the cloth off and opened the bathroom door to find Dumbledore and Remus looking at him with concern.

"I know I didn't get all the blood off. How's Snape?"

"Madam Pomphrey is still working on him."

He started to head back to the private room but Remus put a hand on his shoulder.

"Not yet, Harry."

"But -"

"Harry, we need to talk to the Auror's in a few minutes," the Headmaster said. "I need to know what you did that allowed you to survive being hit by two Killing Curses."

Harry crinkled his brow in confusion. "I ... uh, didn't do anything."

"Harry, you are clearly still alive, so you obviously did something," Remus pointed out.

"She missed," he insisted to his two guardians. Surely they believed him. He had no reason to lie about that.

"Harry, I saw _both_ curses hit you."

He frowned. Okay, so maybe they _didn't_ believe him. He bit the inside of his cheek and pushed the bit of hurt that bubbled up to the surface back down. He was feeling too many things right now. He didn't think he could also deal with the feelings of knowing that Remus and Dumbledore didn't believe him. He shook his head. "They didn't hit me. They both missed."

"After the Auror's leave, I want to see your memory of the entire incident."

And they _still_ didn't believe him. Now the Headmaster wanted to see proof. He nodded and looked away, afraid they would see how hurt he was by that notion. He then realized what was said. Glancing at Remus, he asked hopefully, "Is Tonks questioning me?"

"Sorry, Harry. Because of her connection with me, she isn't allowed."

A knock on the door caused everyone to look up and see two red robed Auror's standing in the doorway.

"Headmaster, we need to question you and Mr. Potter," one of them said.

"You can use Poppy's office to question Harry. I need to check on Severus, so whomever is questioning me can do so in the private room."

Harry started to protest because he needed to see that Snape was still okay, but a glare from Remus silenced him.

He spent the next hour answering questions - the same ones over and over. He finally had enough. "Look. I need to check on Snape. My story isn't going to change because I haven't lied." He then pushed himself past the Auror and headed to the private room.

When he opened the door, he saw Snape asleep on the bed, Dumbledore sitting in a chair at the bedside, Madam Pomphrey putting some kind of salve on one of Snape's arms, and an Auror in the corner of the room.

"Excellent. Mr. Potter is finished so that must mean you are as well," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

He tuned everyone out and looked at Madam Pomphrey. "How is he? Has he woken up yet?"

"He's going to be fine and I imagine he won't wake up until tomorrow."

"Why?" he demanded. '_What all was he hit with that would knock him out for almost an entire day?_' he wondered.

"He's in severe pain so to give the potions time to work in his system, I've put him in a light coma. When his body isn't in so much pain, the coma will end and he'll begin sleeping naturally. He'll wake up when he's ready."

Harry pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat in it.

"Harry, after she's finished, we need to re-apply the warding wire, mostly as a preventative measure."

He nodded then focused on Snape. Maybe another five minutes had passed when he glanced up to see Madam Pomphrey looking at him.

"I need to examine you now."

"I'm fine," he automatically said.

"Harry, let her scan you," Remus insisted.

Harry sighed but sat back in the chair.

"All of your cuts have stopped bleeding. After you shower, put this on them so that when they completely close, you won't get an infection," she said as she placed a small vial of white stuff on the bedside table.

Harry watched her frown as she scanned him again. He grimaced at her expression because he knew what she was about to yell at him for.

"Why did you not tell me that you had broken your arm?"

"I was hoping it was just sprained," he admitted sheepishly.

"Give me your left arm," she scolded.

"I'll grab a wrap and a vial of skelegrow for you," Remus said from the doorway.

Harry gave a slight grimace as Madam Pomphrey set his arm. She then cleaned the blood, mud, and dirt off that he had missed.

"After I wrap this, I'll cast a water-proofing spell over it. I then want you to take a bath. When you get out, put what I gave you earlier on your cuts. Anything else can wait."

Harry glanced at Snape again.

"We'll stay with him, Harry. He won't be alone," Dumbledore said, no doubt seeing his expression.

A few minutes later, Harry headed to the bathroom. Before he stripped, he called Dobby.

"Yes, Har-! You're hurt!" Dobby squeaked out.

"I'm fine Dobby. Do you care to go to my room and get me some clothes?"

"I is being right back, sir."

"Wait! Can you get Snape some, too? He was also hurt."

Harry smiled slightly as Dobby popped out and returned muttering about how no one ever tells him the important things.

He apologized again and after he had Dobby take Snape's clothes to Madam Pomphrey, he stripped and climbed into the bath.

Forty-five minutes later, he re-entered the private room where Snape, Remus, and Dumbledore were.

He immediately sat in the chair that was next to Snape's head.

"Harry, we need to re-apply the coil on his arm then I need to see the memory from your point of view."

He nodded, again tamping down on the hurt that coursed through his veins that they didn't believe him.

"Harry," Remus said quietly, "it's not that we don't believe you. It's just that we need to see the incident from your point of view, mostly to get the complete picture of everything that happened."

He shrugged. It didn't matter to him if he was believed or not, at least that's what he tried to tell himself.

Dumbledore pulled out a silver coil. "I want you to add more power when you add your part this time."

"Yes, sir," he muttered.

* * *

When Remus and Albus emerged from the pensieve a little while later, they both smiled at the scene before their eyes.

Harry was leaning forward in the chair, his head resting on the bed, sound asleep.

"We need to move him or he's really going to be in pain."

Albus transfigured the chair that Harry was sitting in into a bed and Remus carefully maneuvered him to where he was laying down.

He summoned a blanket and handed it to Remus to put over Harry.

Both adults then sat down.

A couple minutes had passed when Remus commented quietly, "well, at least we know the additional training is helping him."

Albus nodded. "I swear, from my point of view, it looked like both curses hit him."

"From the way Bellatrix reacted, evidently she thought the first curse had hit him, too. We need to ask what the parseltongue spell did. I didn't know he could cast any other than the warding one from when he re-does the coil on Severus' arm."

"I'll see if I can get him to tell me where he learned it from," commented Albus, thought he had a pretty good idea _exactly_ where Harry had learned it. He then sighed. "He may not tell me because I have no doubt he's still hurting over the fact that he thinks we don't trust him."

"I'll talk to him later, explain to him why it was so important that you needed to see what happened."

"Oh, he knows why. I have no doubt that he doesn't think we trust him since I basically called him a liar because I could have swore he was hit with both curses."

He saw Remus frown at Harry. "I'm sure he knows you didn't mean it. After he gets some rest, hopefully he'll feel better and be able to fully understand everything."

"I may need to show him my memory of the fight. Maybe if he sees everything from my point of view, he'll understand."

Remus chuckled slightly. "You know ... he never did tell the Auror that he had cast a parseltongue spell."

"He didn't?" asked Albus with some surprise. "How did he get away with that?"

"Now that I've seen the battle, there were a couple of things that he didn't tell the Auror. I guess we can just chalk it up to his self-preservation, because you know what everyone would think if he suddenly started casting spells in parseltongue."

Albus merely rolled his eyes. "I need to go inform Minerva what all has happened. Can you tell his friends? It's nearing dinner time. If Ms. Granger is still holding everyone hostage, they use one of the empty classrooms on the seventh floor."

Remus stood. "I'll ask them not to descend down here all at once."

"Good." Albus then headed to Minerva's office.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. One of my cousins wife just passed away. She was two years younger than I am. She had just had a major surgery, but everything had went all right, so it was a shock that she had passed.

Couple that with job hunting (I have to get out of this house soon) and a bit of writers block (not this chapter, I had this chapter written already) I just couldn't find it in me to write. Then I started re-reading the books and re-watching the movies. I'm getting ready to re-read HBP and watch the HBP movie. During the 5th movie, I actually inadvertently got an idea and I started writing because of it. As much as I hate to, it'll be another couple of weeks before I can post another update, but I swear I've not abandoned the story. Like I said before, I'm having waaayyyy too much fun writing it to abandon it.

As for this chapter, as for what Harry meant by the curses missing him, it will be explained how in a later chapter. So, assuming Snape wakes up, who thinks he's gonna be upset that Harry put himself in danger over him? ;-)

I do wanna thank everyone for the patience that I have been shown toward updating and for my continued reviewers, lurkers, and browsers. *Sets out a bunch of treats in order to lure reviews.* (I should get my 1000th review this chapter! YAY!)

As an aside, for those that like movies/musicals, I highly recommend the 25th anniversary edition of The Phantom of the Opera with Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom and Sierra Boggess as Christine. I've always said that Alan Rickman was yummy, but Ramin is a very close second. bwahaha ;-)


	123. Various Scoldings

Disclaimer: All the usuals! I don't own Harry Potter or any character thereof! I just like to play with 'em! *nods*

* * *

Chapter 123

* * *

Harry stretched then opened his eyes. He saw Snape still asleep. He got up, went to the loo, and when he returned saw Madam Pomphrey come in the room bearing another cup of skelegrow.

After he drank it, she scanned him. "I can remove the wrap in the morning. Get some more sleep. It's just now midnight."

"I'm wide awake. How's Snape?"

"He's sleeping now. He slipped out of the healing coma about an hour ago. If you want, I can give you something to put you back to sleep."

"No. I'll call Dobby and have him bring me a book to read." His stomach then growled. "And a sandwich."

"All right. If you need anything, let me know."

He nodded and called for Dobby.

"You weren't asleep were you?"

"No, Harry Potter, sir."

"I have a book on elemental magic that I think is on my desk. Can you bring it to me, please? And also some kind of sandwich? I'm a little hungry."

"Certainly, sir."

Five minutes later, Harry became engrossed in the book as he ate one of the three sandwiches that Dobby had provided for him.

At some point during the night, he became sleepy. He quietly scooted his chair closer to Snape's bed and fell asleep.

Harry jerked suddenly, the feel of something in his hair. His first realization was that he was stiff.

"Harry," came a hoarse voice.

He jumped slightly and actually looked around. It was then he saw that Snape had his eyes open.

"You're awake!"

"Why are you sitting on the floor?" Snape asked in a raspy voice.

Harry glanced down. He _was_ in the floor. He must have slid off the chair during the night. He shook his head, stood up, and poured Snape some water then handed the cup to him.

"I'll get Madam Pomphrey."

"Beds are alarmed," he croaked again.

"Right, forgot about that. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Why were you on the floor?"

"Err ... I didn't want to leave you."

Snape tried to sit up, so Harry helped him. As he did, he caught sight of the sky. It was nearing dawn.

"Morning, you two. How are you feeling, Severus?"

"Fine."

Harry snickered. "He told me that too."

"Step outside for a couple minutes, Potter."

He nodded and headed to the loo, mostly to splash some water on his face.

A few minutes later, he was allowed back in the room. He frowned. Snape was asleep again.

"How is he?"

"He'll be fine. He still needs to rest."

"Did you have to spell him to sleep again?"

The medi-witch laughed. "No. I think he's just dozing."

Harry nodded as he sat down in the chair and picked his book up to read.

About twenty minutes had passed when an elf popped in and handed Harry clean clothes.

"Thanks Ammy."

"You is being welcome, sir. Dobby is being busy in the kitchen and is asking Ammy to get clothes for you and Professor Snape."

"Please thank Dobby for me as well."

The elf nodded and popped out. He set the clothes to the side for now. He would change after the wrap was removed from his arm.

* * *

"Harry?"

He glanced up.

"Madam Pomphrey said you got hurt yesterday."

"I'm okay."

"What happened? How did you get hurt?"

"We can talk about that later. You need to rest."

"I _am_ resting," Snape said with a glare as he slowly pushed himself up in the bed.

Harry sighed. "I felt you get hurt yesterday."

"You _felt_ me get hurt?" he asked with a raised brow.

Harry handed Snape a fresh cup of water. "It's just ... I don't know. I just knew you were hurt. Dumbledore was with me and after we realized you weren't in our rooms, I told him where you were."

"So ... he took you with him?"

Harry bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn't let Dumbledore take the blame. "I made him take me."

"How did you _make_ him take you?"

"I think he knew that if he didn't take me, I'd go on my own."

Snape growled. "Harry, you are _not_ to put yourself in danger for me!"

"Ground me all you want! I'm _not_ sorry! Had I not went, Bellatrix would have killed you and I'd be left alone. _Again_!"

He saw Snape close his eyes but give a slight nod.

"I needed to make sure you were okay. I've never felt fear like that before." He roughly rubbed his eyes, refusing to cry. "Anyway," he continued, "I stunned Bellatrix. The Ministry has her."

"How?"

"Er … well, I might have been a little upset that she had just cast two Killing Curses at you, so I … uh, put every bit of power I could behind a stunning spell." He then narrowed his eyes in thought. "I wonder if she's awake yet."

He saw Snape's lips twitch. "How bad was the break in your arm?"

"Just a minor one, more of a fracture really. What happened to you? Why did you go to Hogsmeade by yourself?"

"You do not need to hear that."

Harry huffed. "I'm not some little kid. I _can_ handle the truth."

Snape shifted in the bed. "I'll think about it," he said finally. "Where is the Headmaster?"

He shrugged. "I've been in here ever since the Auror's finished talking to me."

Madam Pomphrey then breezed into the room with food. "You'll be in here until at least noon on Monday, and just so you're not tempted, Albus spelled the doorway so that you cannot get out without me," she informed Snape with a smirk.

After she put the tray of food down, she looked at Harry and said, "Potter, Ms. Bones is in the main part of the infirmary asking for you."

He glanced at Snape. "I'll be right back."

At the infirmary door stood Susan.

"Susan? What's wrong?" he asked.

She looked at him funny. "You were in a battle, in which you find Bellatrix Lestrange _and_ capture her and you ask _me_ what's wrong?"

Harry looked at her with a perplexed expression. "How do you know that?"

She held up a copy of that morning's _Daily Prophet_.

"Oh. Right. Well, I'm fine."

Susan frowned at Harry. "What happened? How did you end up in Hogsmeade?"

"I take it you drew the short straw to find out?"

"I have no idea what that means but I managed to convince everyone to let me come up here first, even though I was tempted to hex Ron to bring him around to my way of thinking."

Harry snickered slightly before letting out a small sigh. "I was talking to the Headmaster yesterday when I realized Snape was hurt," he said as they sat down on a nearby hospital bed. He quickly put up a silencing spell because the Ravenclaw in one of the beds was obviously eavesdropping.

"So you went to Hogsmeade by yourself?"

"No. I was with Dumbledore. We found Snape hurt and then Dumbledore and I fought the Death Eater's. We brought Snape back and I've been here ever since."

Susan frowned. "You can't tell me any more than that?"

He shrugged. "I don't wanna talk about it actually."

"Okay. Can you come downstairs?"

"I wanna stay up here. With Snape."

Susan gave him a small smile. "That's fine. I'll let Ron and Hermione know."

"Thanks, Susan. For understanding." He watched her leave before heading back to the private room.

* * *

Albus entered the private hospital room and raised his eyebrow at the sight before his eyes.

Severus was awake, reading a book. Harry, however, was asleep in a bedside chair, his body facing toward Severus'.

"He won't leave me longer than a few minutes. I don't understand it," the potions master said once he realized he had company. Albus detected a hint of confusion in the man's voice.

"That's because he thought he lost you, Severus. I figured he would have tried to create distance between the two of you. Instead, he managed to surprise me again by trying to get closer to you. He may not say it. He may not even realize it yet, but he does love you."

Severus looked at Harry. "I know," the man said softly.

That surprised Albus even more. "You know?"

"Yes." He then shook his head. "Where is your pensieve? I want to see what happened."

Albus chuckled. "Later. I know you want to yell for taking Harry with me yesterday. Go ahead and get it over with. Remus already has."

"Lupin yelled at you?" he asked in a surprised voice.

"He did and I can't really blame him. I knowingly took Harry into a potentially dangerous situation with just the two of us."

"Why?"

"I figured that he'd go anyway if I didn't take him with me. Plus, there was the added benefit that he knew exactly where you were. The main reason was that I knew he'd be all right. But I do need to have a serious discussion with him."

"Why?" Severus asked suspiciously.

"He listened to me, just as he was supposed to. What I wasn't counting on was him throwing himself in front of a Killing Curse to protect you."

"He did _what_?"

Albus nodded.

"He neglected to tell me that," Severus snarled.

"That doesn't surprise me. Now, why were you in Hogsmeade? What happened?"

* * *

Severus set the book he was reading to the side. He then grabbed his wand and cast a spell that would keep Harry from hearing him should the boy wake up.

"Why the spell?" questioned Albus.

Severus merely raised an eyebrow at the Headmaster. "I have no desire for him to hear what happened to me. I'll give him an edited version later."

Albus snorted. "Good luck with that."

He rolled his eyes. "I took advantage of the fact that you and Potter would be clustered together and I headed to Hogsmeade."

"Why?"

"Because I had errands to run. Owl order isn't always perfect."

"You shouldn't have went alone."

"Are you going to keep scolding me like a recalcitrant child? Or am I allowed to continue my story?"

Albus indicated for him to continue.

"I went to a couple shops. It was as I was leaving the apothecary, I saw McNair leaning casually against the wall of Honeydukes. I immediately stunned him. Before I could do anything else, I found myself surrounded."

He reached for a glass of water as he glanced toward Harry to reassure himself that the boy was still asleep.

"Bellatrix appeared and began torturing me and from what I could tell, she didn't know who I was, or I'm sure she would have killed me right away." He paused thoughtfully. "I remember reaching for my Order pendant, but I don't think I ever made contact with it."

"You didn't," Albus said with a frown.

"After about the seventh slicing curse hit me, I began to lose consciousness. The last thing I remembered was being annoyed that they had ambushed me so easily."

"What spells do you remember? And before you answer, I've seen the report Madam Pomphrey put in your file."

He scowled. He had given Albus access to his files years ago. "I remember a spell crushing both of my legs. I also remember someone kicking me repeatedly. Between that and being cut open, I passed out. I don't know what they were really after."

He watched as Albus ran his hand over his beard. "Bellatrix remarked that they just expected me, not Harry."

"So they captured me in hopes of luring you out?"

"I don't think they were after you specifically. You were just the first one they came across."

"Yeah, well, I'm utterly disgusted with myself. I was on my guard and I was _still _caught."

"There's no need for that."

"What are they going to do with Bellatrix?"

"Don't worry about her. Now, I have a couple things to do. I'll return after dinner and if you are up to it, I'll view your memory of the attack and then you can view mine and Harry's memory of our fight. Get some more rest."

He watched the Headmaster leave before grabbing his wand and canceling the privacy spell. He then drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Harry stretched from his position in the chair then glanced over at Snape. He found the man's dark gaze staring into his.

"You should be resting," he commented as he stood up.

"I've been resting."

"I'll be back," he said as he headed for the door. Once in the main part of the infirmary, he walked to Madam Pomphrey's office and knocked.

"I take it you are ready for that wrap to be removed?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Take a seat. I'll examine you in a minute to make sure the skelegrow worked."

As he waited on the medi-witch to return, he let his eyes fall on the stack of books perched precariously on the edge of the desk.

"What book caught your attention?"

He startled slightly. He hadn't heard anyone else enter the room.

"None of them, really. I barely have enough time to read my books, let alone any others."

The Headmaster laughed. "Since Madam Pomphrey is currently occupied, I am curious about the parseltongue spell you cast. I am getting ready to let Severus view the memories and I want to know what it did because we both know that he'll ask."

"I want to view his," he immediately said.

"No, Harry. I do not want you watching something like that."

He growled slightly. Everyone insisted on treating him like a little kid … yet Dumbledore did take him to Hogsmeade. He was fairly certain Dumbledore would never take a child into a potentially dangerous situation.

He blew out an annoyed sigh but nodded.

"The spell," the Headmaster said again.

"It was one of the spells I glanced at briefly as I was first looking around the … library. I probably should have read more on it, but my brain stopped working when I saw Snape lying on the ground."

"What did it do?"

"Er …" Harry felt himself flush. "It was supposed to make her skin boil."

"Harry!" scolded Dumbledore.

"I know and I never would have cast that spell in any other circumstances but seeing her standing over Snape – especially after what she done to Sirius – I threw the first thing I thought of."

"No more parseltongue spells unless I know what they are and approve of them."

"Yes, sir."

"Alright Mr. Potter – oh Albus! I didn't know you were here," exclaimed Madam Pomphrey as she entered her office.

"Just came to see Severus."

"Very well. Sit still Harry while I scan you."

"Okay."

Harry watched the Headmaster leave as he sat still in the chair.

Ten minutes later, he was free of the wrap. "I'll be back in about half an hour."

She nodded.

Harry walked down to Snape's quarter's. Since Snape couldn't leave until tomorrow, he would gather his school robes and books for the next day and sleep in the infirmary.

* * *

Severus was tossed out of the final memory they were viewing. When Albus had shown him his view of the event, he also thought the Killing Curses had hit his son.

"Well, at least he's learning something from all the lessons he's received so far," he commented blandly.

When Bellatrix had cast the first spell, in Harry's rush to take it, the boy had pushed himself away slightly then barely tumbled out of the way his-self. The second one, he had managed to side-step.

He could indeed see how both Albus and Bellatrix had assumed she had hit Harry.

"That reminds me. I'll need to tell Kingsley his lesson took hold. It's possible he might be able to teach Harry even more evasion tactics."

Severus nodded then narrowed his eyes as Harry entered the room.

"What are you doing?"

The boy looked at him as if he was an idiot. "Studying."

"Why do you have clothes?"

"Because I'm staying here until the morning," he had replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You need to sleep in a real bed. Stay in the dorm tonight if you don't want to sleep in the dungeons alone."

"I'm not leaving," he replied as he began searching through his book bag for something.

He glanced at Albus and saw amusement in the older man's eyes.

"I'll leave you two alone," Albus said cheerfully as he picked up his pensieve. "Have a good night."

Severus couldn't help but roll his eyes.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry it took so long to post this. I've been writing quite a bit, but unfortunately, until I can beat my printer into working again, I'm stuck editing on the computer screen, which for me is excruciating. I also hit a bit of a roadblock for one of my future chapters, but as I was working on another side project of mine, I realized the solution and am now currently beating myself up for ignoring the obvious, so once I post this chapter, I'm going back to writing.

I do, however, have most of the next chapter typed. As for the next chapter, Harry gives Snape a near heart-attack and Severus learns exactly how patient of a man he's become since he realized he had a son. *cackles evilally* However, the next chapter isn't very long as far as I can tell. I may add one more part to it. It just depends on how well my writing goes over the next couple of days.

As always, I wanna thank everyone for the reviews! I appreciate each and every one and I also wanna welcome the new reviewers and lurkers. There are plenty of sweets and Bertie Botts Beans lying around. However, it is to my eternal regret to inform you that all the torches and pitchforks have mysteriously disappeared. *shifty_eyed*

P.S. YAY for breaching the 1000 review marker! Woohoo! Oh, and those that checked out The Phantom of the Operas 25th anniversary with Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess, did you like it? *squee's like a lil girl and tries to look dignified ... but fails* :p


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